Changing Time
by lorixjake
Summary: Now that Hermione has told the thrilling tale of their future, the Marauders and Lily must use the information to fight fate itself. Can they succeed or is history doomed to repeat itself. [HermionexSirius] [JamesxLily]
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one: Getting Started

Nobody had an answer to McGonagall's question, they were all lost in their own thoughts.There were so many things to process. Remus was still thinking about his death, and the death of Tonks. It was so unfair. So close to happiness and it would be snatched from him again. No, he corrected himself, would have been. He had a chance to keep it this time.

James couldn't believe his son had done it. He looked down at the baby in his arms and marvelled that something so tiny could defeat the world's most evil villain. Of course by then his little Harry would be fully grown, but in his eyes, he would always be the little baby he currently was. He was also reeling from the news that all of his friends would die. And Snape. He had done everything to keep Harry safe because he had loved Lily. This wasn't exactly news to James, everyone except Lily herself knew of his crush on Lily, but to hear how much he loved her was a little unnerving. That also didn't excuse his behaviour towards Harry. It explained it, but did not excuse it.

Lily was stunned. Her little Hare Bear had fought that monster and won. She looked around the room. Hermione had told them the victory would come at a cost, she hadn't quite imagined such widespread destruction. Of everyone in this room, less than half had survived. James had told her for years that Severus was in love with her and she had dismissed it, saying they were just friends. Even if he was back on their side now, how could she ever retrieve any form of friendship when he was hiding these feelings for her. He had switched sides, back to the light, out of love for her.

Sirius was gazing down at Hermione, open mouthed. It was difficult to believe his godson had defied death, not once, but twice. He marvelled at how much the trio had gone through, and still survived. He was determined to save Regulus this time around.

After a long time, Harry woke and started crying so Lily got up and went to get him some food. Hermione was still leaning into Sirius, their hands intertwined.

"I guess we call an Order meeting and introduce Hermione." Remus suggested.

"It's a start. The Order need to put in a lot more safety measures now as well. A lot of people died in the lead up to that fateful Halloween." Hermione said.

"I will get the Order's address off of Moody as he in the secret keeper." Sirius said. "I'll ask him one evening after work. I go back in three days."

"You mean you'll be doing real work, unable to bother us?" Lily asked in a fake hopeful tone. Lily wanted to lift the depressed mood that had settled over the living room as everyone had been lost in thought. She had just come back in, Harry in one arm and his food in the other.

"Prooongs. Control your wife." Sirius complained.

"Sorry Siri, I gave up trying years ago." James grinned.

"Don't call me Siri, Jamsie." Sirius retorted.

"Enough boys." McGonagall snapped in exasperation.

"Sorry Professor." They chorused, not looking sorry at all.

"Sirius, you should use Kreacher to contact Regulus. Maybe we can save him. He got cold feet soon after he joined. If he's been a Death Eater since he graduated then he is probably already planning to find the locket." Hermione interjected. Sirius made a face at the idea of calling Kreacher.

"We also need an idea of how many Horcruxes Voldemort has in this time." Flitwick said. "Obviously Harry isn't one."

"The diary must be. It was his sixteen year old self in it, the same age he was when he asked Slughorn about Horcruxes and when he killed his uncle Morfin. Maybe he used that death to make the diary." Lily suggested.

"Damn, how do you remember such detail?" Sirius asked in awe.

"I pay attention, Black." She rolled her eyes.

"So do I." He defended. "Sometimes." He exchanged smirks with James.

"The diary could be anywhere." James complained.

"Well Lucius Malfoy had it before Voldemort was defeated the first time so it may be in the Malfoy vault or at Malfoy Manor." Hermione put in.

"It's more likely to be in the vault. If Voldemort wanted it safe he would probably make them put it in the vault." Sirius told them.

"We know the locket has been made as that was also in place before his downfall. I don't think Nagini was made one until after he returned in the graveyard." Hermione added.

"What about the one in Bellatrix's vault. The cup?" Asked McGonagall.

"The memory showed that he stole that at the same time as the locket, so it is possible it's a horcrux now. I have no idea if it's still in Gringotts though." Dumbledore said.

"Robbing two vaults in not going to happen. You three made it into one and barely got out alive. Two is pushing luck too far." James told the room.

"I'm with James on this one." Lily put in.

"Well the other options are break into Lestrange and Malfoy Manors. Then still possibly need to get into Gringotts." Remus said quietly.

"The diadem will be the easiest. Riddle put it there when he went for the job interview. It will be in the room of requirement." Hermione smiled. "The problem will be destroying it. The sword of Gryffindor won't work because it is not imbued with Basilisk venom in this time. The Basilisk is still alive and we can hardly walk up to a live Basilisk and ask for a fang."

"Nor do we have a Parseltongue to get in there." Dumbledore pointed out.

"I'm definitely not comfortable knowing we have a deadly serpent living under the school." Flitwick shivered.

"We could use Fiendfyre." Hermione suggested. "In a controlled environment with you there." She looked over at the Professors. "It may be possible."

"If there is an alternative solution that will be best. We should resort to Fiendfyre as a last resort." Dumbledore said gravely.

"Back to the Horcruxes, the Gaunt ring may be one in this time as well." Remus said. "That gives us five."

"More than enough to be getting on with." Flitwick said.

"Yes. We should leave the diadem until we know how to destroy it. The Horcruxes are still a part of Voldemort's soul and will entice us in different ways." Hermione warned.

"If nobody has a better solution by the Order meeting then we will set up a safe area to use Fiendfyre." McGonagall told them.

"When is the meeting?" Asked Remus.

"I have moved it to a week today." Dumbledore informed them.

"So we just do nothing until then?" James demanded. "We can't just sit around knowing this stuff and not do anything."

"Mr Black will set about trying to save his brother. That way we can get the locket. I suggest you and Mrs Potter think about how to deal with the situation regarding Severus." McGonagall suggested.

"The more of Voldemort's supporters we can turn to our side the better." Remus said.

"I'll call Kreacher in the morning."

"Careful Siri, you almost had a smart idea." Hermione grinned cheekily. He mock glared at her as Remus, James and Lily burst out laughing.

"I can be smart." He replied haughtily, sticking his nose up.

"Suuuure." James patted him arm in pretend reassurance. "He's delusional." He stage whispered to Hermione.

"As amusing as 'Pick on Sirius day' is, can we get back to the matter at hand." McGonagall called, looking both amused and annoyed.

"Any ideas on how to contact Snape?" James asked his wife. "It would hardly be safe to just send him an owl."

"We made a code when we were kids. I could send him a note using that." Lil suggested.

"Could anyone else break it?" Flitwick asked.

"I highly doubt it. It would mean nothing to anyone but me and Sev." Lily gave a small smile. James had to refrain from frowning.

"You'd best send him a letter then and ask him to meet you in a neutral place. Diagon Alley or something." James suggested.

"That's hardly the best place to be discussing such business." Lily replied.

"You can't go off alone with him?" James asked, aghast. "He is still a Death Eater. He might think it's a trap and bring back-up."

"Maybe we could meet in Diagon Alley and then move somewhere more private. We can figure that out later, he might not even reply." Lily stalled. James grimaced but nodded. One problem at a time he figured.

"Well we shall leave you five to figure out the details of how you will contact the two boys." McGonagall said.

"Yes. See you in one week at the Order meeting place. Sirius don't forget to get the address off Alastor." Dumbledore reminded him. "I will forewarn him you are going to ask."

"Yes Professor." Sirius smiled.

"Well, good day and good luck. Many thanks Miss Granger for coming here. We appreciate your sacrifice and acknowledge your bravery." Dumbledore said.

"Thank you professor." Hermione replied. With that he disappeared into the flames.

"Best of luck. That was an incredible tale. You have done yourself and your friends great credit." McGonagall said as she, too, disappeared.

"Yes, yes well done Miss Granger." Flitwick beamed. "I must be going as well. If you need anything just floo to Hogwarts. You are all always welcome." He waved and then toppled into the fireplace. The five looked at each other.

"Dinner time." Sirius announced. Lily glared at him and then got up to fetch some food. James walked over and gave Hermione a huge hug.

"Thanks 'Mione. For everything." He said sincerely. She just smiled in reply. Then Remus came over and hugged her as well.

"Welcome to the family." He grinned.

"Thanks." Hermione laughed. Sirius then hugged Hermione as well. He pulled her against him and kissed her forehead tenderly. She leant against his chest, emotionally exhausted. After a while she stood straight and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips before heading to see if Lily needed any help.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: NIghtmares (Sirius Pov)

I felt too empty when Hermione left my arms. I had gotten so used to holding her, both for comfort and because I wanted to that it felt wrong for her to be gone. I turned to James just as Remus grinned over at me.

"Do I have to give you the speech about, 'you hurt her and I kill you?" He asked with a wink. James laughed and I rolled my eyes.

"If I hurt her then you are welcome to kill me." I told him sincerely.

"How come Moony gets the pleasure?" James pouted. I glared at him as Lily excused herself to put Harry down for the night. I quickly stopped her and gave the tiny guy a hug and a kiss goodnight. I smiled down at the little miracle in my arms before passing him on to say goodnight to his dad.

"Coz 'Mione is my cousin." Remus replied. I missed this. With the war and the news 'Mione had brought, we hadn't had enough time for the light hearted banter we formed our friendship around. Just as my stomach gave a loud rumble, Lily and 'Mione came back in carrying plates of sandwiches. I made to take one but the evil witches offered the food to everyone else first. When it was finally my turn they kept moving the plate just out of my reach.I pouted at Hermione, giving her my famous puppy eyes.

"Sorry Black, they only work if you're a real dog." Hermione laughed. _That can be arranged_ I thought with a grin. I transformed, put my head on her leg and whined piteously. She looked down at me, sighed and offered me a sandwich. I snapped it up and transformed back to human. Lily rolled her eyes at Hermione who grinned sheepishly.

"You need to work on that 'Mione." James warned with a wink.

"It's not my fault he's cute as a dog." She sighed in fake annoyance.

"Maybe it's just the fact he can't talk that makes him cute?" Remus suggested.

"You think I'm cute as a dog?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at him. "Moony mate, You're a good friend and all but I don't swing that way." I told him. He went red.

"Not what I meant." He mumbled. James roared with laughter. Even the girls laughed. Remus huffed.

"Who wants to play a game before bed?" I suggested. After the emotional turmoil of the day, I think we all needed to just relax and think about something else. Tomorrow the real work could begin.

"Exploding snap?" Remus suggested.

"You always win that." James grumbled.

"How about Wizard's chess?" I offered.

"You win that." James complained.

"It's not our fault you're no good at games Jamsie." I teased.

"Shut up Siri." He grumbled. I mock scowled at him for using that stupid nickname.

"Well, why don't I play Remus at exploding snap and 'Mione plays SIrius at chess. James, love, maybe you could pick up some tips." Lily teased. Remus and I laughed as James flushed slightly.

"I suck at chess." Hermione confessed.

"Oh well. I can teach you." I chimed happily. "I gotta beat the smartest girl at something." I smiled winningly as she thought about it.

"Ok." She sighed. We settled down on one side of the room. We began playing and I corrected her a few times, teaching her a few defences. For someone so observant she didn't spot many dangers from my pieces. We played a couple of games, the concentration punctuated by frequent bangs from the game of snap. I chuckled lightly at her frustrated expression as my knight took her queen for checkmate for the fourth game in a row.

"Urgh. This is hopeless. How are you guys getting on?" She asked Lily and Remus.

"He's slaughtering me." Lily confessed. Remus and I high fived.

"Learn anything?" I ask James with a grin.

"Yeah. Play against Lils or 'Mione." He chuckled. They both hit his arm. "Ow!" He moaned.

"Right, we'd best get back to the flat." I said to Remus. He nodded. He said his goodbyes and then took the floo to our flat. Our flat and Hogwarts were the only fireplaces that could be connected here. I hugged James and Lily briefly. "Thanks for the food Lily flower." I grinned. She slapped me upside the head and I rubbed the spot gingerly. "You've got quite the arm on you." I complained.

"Hitting annoying boys does build the muscles." She laughed. I moved over and hugged 'Mione tightly. I pulled away slightly, putting one hand on her cheek, I simply stared into her eyes wondering how I got so lucky. She smiled shyly and leant up, putting her arms around my neck to kiss me. I kissed her softly and then she pulled away.

"Night Sirius." She said.

"Night 'Mione." I replied before heading out via floo. I arrived in the front room of the flat I shared with Remus in London. The front room was cream with red carpets and furniture. It all had gold trimmings to make it seem more Gryffindor like. Old habits die hard I guess. An oak coffee table stood by the chair facing the television. Remus and Lily had told me how awesome they were and I must agree. Some cartoons were just weird but a couple of them were really great. Remus was in the little kitchenette making coffee. I collapsed into my favourite chair.

"How are you doing?" I asked him.

"Not so great." He replied. "It's just so much to handle ya know? Like you think you've just processed the last bit and suddenly a whole new part that's difficult to deal with comes up. I don't know how those three did it."

"Magic." I quipped. The corner of his lips tugged up in a tiny smile.

"Obviously." He rolled his eyes, still smiling faintly. "I can't imagine how Lily and James are doing though. Or Hermione for that matter." I pushed my hair out of my eyes and looked at him as he came over, handed me my coffee and sat down.

"I guess we take heart from the fact none of this has happened yet. We won't let it happen." I tried to smile reassuringly but I'm pretty sure it came out as a grimace. My suspicion proved true when Remus took one look at me and sniggered.

"You look constipated." He remarked.

"Gee thanks. And I was just trying to provide moral support." I said, looking offended.

"And I'm the giant squid." Remus snorted. I rolled my eyes and bade him goodnight. My dreams were horrible that night. Fragmented images of a grown up Harry crying over Remus' body. Nagini attacking Harry. Me holding a still, limp Hermione in my arms. Watching Harry being hit with the killing curse as he yelled out my name. I sat up in bed to hear someone really calling my name.

"Sirius freaking Black." I looked around groggily and spotted my two way mirror on the bedside table. I picked it up and saw James looking back at me.

"What?" I groaned thickly.

"'Mione is having a nightmare. She keeps thrashing and yelling. We can't wake her up." I was instantly awake as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over me.

"I'm on my way." I told him. I put the mirror down and dashed about trying to get dressed in the dark. Finally I grabbed my wand and ran to the floo calling out James and Lily's house. Due to my rush I tumbled out of the fireplace in a heap sprawling on the floor in front of an amused looking James.

"Real graceful Padfoot." He snickered. I got up and brushed myself off. "She's quietened down, but she is still awake." He told me, the smile fading. I took the stairs two at a time and knocked briefly on the door I knew had to be Hermione's.

"I'm fine James." She called, her voice choked and broken.

"Liar." I called back.

"Oh. Sirius." She yelped, startled. I opened the door and saw her bathed in moonlight sat on the bed. Her arms were wrapped around her knees and tears were streaking down her cheeks. I moved straight over to her, sitting down on the bed and pulled her into a hug.

"Nightmare?" I asked softly. I had no idea what would be the best thing to do. Did she wanna talk about it? Just be held? Me to go away? She nodded, her face buried in my chest. "Wanna tell me about it?" I asked gently.

"Memories." She mumbled. She was obviously having flashbacks from the horrible things she had to tell us today. It had been emotional for all of us, but Hermione had lived through it.

"Shhh. It's ok. I'm here. You're ok." I whispered in her ear. I could hardly reassure her it wasn't real. For her it was. Or had been at least. It was safer to just stick with whispering comforting nothings, just to let her know I'm here.

"I was at Malfoy Manor. Bellatrix. Harry being killed." She whimpered. I pulled her into my lap.

"I swear I won't let her touch you 'Mione. I would die before I let her lay another finger on you." I said.

"You can't promise that. I might see her sooner or later." She said, her voice muffled by my shirt.

"I could always lock you at home where no one could ever find you." I teased softly.

"Don't you dare Mister." She pulled back so she could glare at me. I kissed the tip of her nose, smirking. The tears seemed to have stopped so I relaxed slightly. First hurdle as a boyfriend accomplished without a major screw up on my part. I went to move her off my lap and put her back to bed but she clung to my shirt. I sighed and lay down, still fully clothed, pulling her down beside me. I kept my arm around her and kept her head on my chest. We lay like that, not talking until her breathing evened out. Once I knew she was asleep, I tried to disentangle myself but I couldn't without waking 'Mione. This was awkward. Although we were both fully clothed it might be awkward for her to wake up on my chest after sleeping in the same bed. I wasn't sure what to do. I knew if Remus woke up and found me missing with no explanation he would worry so I called James in softly.

"James, I know you're listening." I called quietly. He immediately came into the room, smirking when he saw my situation.

"Good job mate." He smiled.

"Thanks. Can you go to mine and leave Remus a message that I'm here? I don't want him to freak out." I asked. James nodded and left the room. As I couldn't go anywhere, I settled down and closed my eyes. This was perfect. I tightened my grip on Hermione when she squirmed slightly and began whimpering in her sleep. I whispered in her ear soothingly and she soon settled down. After the third or so time she seemed to have settled down for good so I finally allowed myself to drift off to sleep.

I woke the next morning with a pressure on my chest. I frowned and opened my eyes. Hermione was still draped across me. Memories of the night before came flashing back and I tightened my grip on her reflexively. The small action caused her to stir slightly. I waited to see if she would go back to sleep, but then she opened her eyes and stared up at me uncomprehendingly.

"Sirius?" She asked, her voice still thick with sleep.

"Yep. Just me." I smiled. Then she seemed to become aware of the position she was in and she sat up quickly.

"I'm so sorry." Her cheeks turned an adorable faint pink.

"No worries." I said. "You coulda stayed where you were." I teased.

"Thank you for last night." She said quietly.

"You're very welcome. I wish I could have been there sooner." I assured her. I remained lying down, my hands behind my head smiling up at her. She leant down and kissed me softly. Then there was a knock on the door.

"You two decent?" James called. I could hear the laughter in his voice but Hermione flushed again.

"James!" She squeaked.

"Come in." I replied. He walked in, fully dressed and smirking. "Can we help you?" I asked.

"Lily says breakfast is ready." He informed us. My stomach growled at the mention of food which made Hermione giggle. I jumped up and pulled her with me.

"I need to get dressed." She said, resisting my pulling. I reluctantly let go and headed downstairs with James.

"So what's the agenda for today?" James asked.

"I'm going to call Kreacher once breakfast is done. Hopefully he can get me in touch with Reg and we can work something out with him. What about you Lily?"

"I'm going to write to Sev. Then organise Harry's birthday party. It's two weeks tomorrow." I gaped. I'd forgotten it was so close to his first birthday.

"We can't have a big party. We're under the Fidelius." James reminded her.

"I know. But school will be broken up for summer so I was hoping ti maybe have it at Hogwarts. The room of requirement would be perfect." She replied.

"That's a great idea." James grinned.

"I'd be nice to have something to look forward to." I agreed. I knew both James and Lily would go spare being stuck here all day every day. They nodded and agreed. Just then Hermione came in and sat down. Then Lily served us all pancakes which we all ate speedily. Once everyone was done and Lily had taken Harry out of the room I grimaced and took a deep breath. "Kreacher!" I called irritably. There was a crack and the filthy git appeared in front of me looking sour.

"Master called." He muttered. "Filthy...dishonourable...friend of blood traitors." He added under his breath.

"What was that?" I asked him angrily.

"Nothing. Kreacher was saying nothing."

"Kreacher, have you seen Reg lately?"

"None of masters business. He never had any interest in his brother. Kind master Regulus." The adoration in his voice when speaking about my brother was disgusting. It was hard not to gag.

"Tell me Kreacher." I demanded.

"Master Regulus has been busy doing important things."

"What things?"

"None of masters business." He retorted.

"Kreacher!" I said threateningly. "Tell me now."

"Master says not to tell. I will not betray good master Regulus." He said. I sighed.

"Then give him a message for me. You are to tell only Regulus. You will not tell any other member of the family that you have seen, spoken to or had any contact with me of any kind." I said. I could see him searching vainly for a loophole. Finally he must have found nothing because he remained silent, looking more sour than usual. "Tell Reg I need to speak with him. It is important."

"Master should go tell his blood traitor friends, not involve poor master Regulus." He muttered, so quietly he evidently didn't want me to hear him.

"My mother may have tried to disown me, but sadly I am still a member of this family and I command you do as I say." I spat. Kreacher looked at me with loathing and then disapparated. Still muttering foul insults under his breath.

"I'd forgotten his was so hostile." Hermione remarked, coming into the room.

"I can't picture him being anything else." I sighed. I hated Kreacher. And everything that reminded me of the disgusting family I was unfortunate enough to belong to. Remus came tumbling through the fireplace a minute later.

"Morning all." He smiled around.

"Good morning Remus." Hermione smiled back.

"Mornin' Moony." I grinned. "You got any plans today?" I asked him.

"Well I was thinking I should probably teach Hermione my family tree and some important facts just in case she is questioned." He replied.

"That's a great idea." She beamed. Any idea of learning something new was an exciting prospect to her. Not something I could ever understand.

"I was also hoping you guys could help me become an animagus." She put forward tentatively. "If I do it, we can tell the Ministry we are all learning together and then we can get you guys registered."

"That's not a bad idea." I complimented. "Oi Prongs!" I called. He came walking in.

"What?"

"'Mione wants to become an animagus. And we can get registered at the same time."

"That's a great idea."

"What's a great idea?" Lily had come walking in behind James.

"'Mione becoming an animagus and us guys registering."

"About time too." Lily agreed. "Maybe I could learn too?" James nodded enthusiastically. We all settled down in the front room. Hermione and Remus were talking in the corner of the room together. Lily and James were making gooey eyes at each other and I began playing with Harry. I started making colourful puffs of smoke with my wand that he was trying to catch with his pudgy fists. Everytime he missed he had the cutest little frown on his face. It was about ten minutes later when there was a loud crack that startled everyone.

"Master Regulus says he will meet master in the Hog's Head at midday tomorrow." He said before leaving as soon as possible. My heart lifted slightly. The last time I had tried to reach out to Reg he had pushed me away. At least he was willing to listen this time. Maybe I could save him.

(A/N I know it's slow, but the action is building. The future wasn't built in a day as they say ;) )


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Meeting Regulus

(3rd person Pov)

Sirius was staring blankly at the spot Kreacher had just disapparated in when Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him.

"That's great Sirius." She smiled.

"You should take back-up mate." James said, but he was smiling at his friend's happiness.

"Ok. But you have to stay hidden unless there is an emergency. I don't think Reg will trust anyone other than me. He may not even trust me." Sirius said forlornly.

"He must have agreed to see you for a reason." Remus reassured him. Everyone nodded. Lily came in with a piece of parchment in her hand.

"I'm going to ask Professor Dumbledore if I can use a Hogwarts owl to send this to Sev." She announced. James scowled slightly.

"Why can't you use Mercury?"

"You really think Sev won't recognise your owl after seven years of school together James?" She sighed. "I doubt he will even open it if it's from you."

"Fine then." He agreed with her reasoning but he didn't have to be happy about it. She went through the floo leaving Harry with James. The three friends and Hermione spent the day amusing Harry and playing games again. There was slightly more tension this time around as they were all eager to be getting out there and starting this fight.

"Have you thought anymore about how to get into Gringotts?" James asked.

"Well, if me and Reg patch up he will be a big help. He will be close enough to the Lestranges and Malfoys. Maybe we can do it the way you guys did, using Polyjuice potion. He could potentially get a hair from Lucius or Rudolphus and we can go in." Sirius suggested.

"That's an awful lot of maybes. We should have another plan too." Hermione said. "That would be a good one if we can pull it off though."

Nobody said anything more as they were each lost in their own thoughts about how it could be done, until Harry started squawking to get attention. Sirius then transformed into a dog and gave Harry rides round the room until Lily came back.

"So what about us becoming animagi?" Hermione asked.

"It's a really long process. You carry a mandrake leaf around in your mouth for a whole month. It tastes horrible and gets quite uncomfortable after a while. I'm not 100% sure why, but it's how it's done." James informed the two.

"There is a potion to take. It's supposed to help your body become accustomed to changing shape. You have to meditate for a long time. Once your mind is completely clear you then attempt to transform. You do it slowly, one part of your body at a time. Then you're stuck in that form until you can transform back. Or someone does it for you." Sirius continued the explanation.

"It is possible to transform all in one go but that hurts and takes up more energy." James added.

"Did you do that?" Hermione asked.

"No. That was me." Sirius grinned sheepishly. "I wasn't getting anywhere and it was really frustrating. Then one day we were practising, James had transformed both his legs by then, and someone burst into the room. I had been so focused on what I was doing that I jumped and suddenly I had four legs and a tail."

"It took us four hours to transform him back." James chuckled. "Once we got him human he slept for 24 hours straight."

"That was the day I found out what you were doing." Remus smiled, both fondly and sternly.

"So, can we brew the potion we need here?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. I have a small potions lab in the basement. I always did love potions." Lily smiled. "We will have to get the mandrake leaves from somewhere though."

"School greenhouses." Sirius suggested. "That's where we got ours."

"Or we could just go and get some from Diagon Alley." James rolled his eyes. Sirius stuck his tongue out.

"I need to meet Reg in Hogsmeade tomorrow. I could stop by Diagon Alley on my way back." Sirius offered.

"Good idea. Now. How are we going to do this meeting?" Remus asked. "You are not going alone."

"I have to. He's barely going to trust me."

"I know that, but you need backup around Hogsmeade." Remus replied.

"He's sure to check out the area beforehand, maybe have lookouts around." Sirius said.

"Well if you meet him at midday, Remus and I can apparate into Hogsmeade just before that, hide under my cloak and watch you guys. The Hogs Head is down quite a long path from Hogsmeade so we can't stay in the village. If you're attacked we won't get there in time." James put in.

"Alright. But you arrive just before twelve. Apparate under the cloak and do not get seen." Sirius told them both. "You can search the area and I will apparate in dead on twelve." He agreed.

The rest of the day passed reasonably slowly. Lily and Hermione spent a while debating what animals they would become.

"Do you become your patronus animal?" Lily asked the boys.

"Me and James did. The traitor never managed a patronus so we don't know. As far as I know it's very common to have the same animagus form as patronus, but it's not definite. Not as many people become animagi now though." Sirius told her. "What's your patronus 'Mione?" He asked.

"An otter." She told him.

"I'm sure you'd make a cute otter." He grinned.

"Lils you'd make an awesome doe." James smiled. "And then we'd match."

"That would be lovely dear." Lily smiled back.

"Well you can start training tomorrow. I'll get the ingredients for the potion and the mandrake leaves then." Sirius told them.

"Great!" The two girls said in unison.

Next morning Sirius was so nervous he didn't want to eat anything. This had Lily so worried she began checking him for illnesses. Hermione spent the morning convincing him it would be fine. At quarter to 12, James and Remus got under the invisibility cloak and left the houses boundaries so they could disapparate. They searched the area around the Hogs Head and found no evidence of any Death Eaters. Regulus wasn't there yet either. Fifteen minutes later, Sirius apparated to the front door and stepped into the pub, watched by his friends. Two minutes later Regulus appeared alone, and went into the pub as well.

"Hey Reg." Sirius smiled at his brother.

"What do you want?" Regulus cut the pleasantries short.

"Can we take this somewhere more private?" Sirius asked. Regulus nodded. They both stood and walked out. Sirius headed towards the shrieking shack.

"Isn't this place haunted?" Regulus asked with an air of interest.

"Supposedly." Sirius shrugged. Once they reached their destination, Sirius stopped and turned to his brother.

"Look, Reg, first of all I need to say I'm sorry." Regulus looked at him in shock. His brother never apologised. "I let you down. I'm your older brother and I should have looked out for you no matter what house you were sorted into." Sirius watched his brother carefully.

"I didn't need you to look out for me." Regulus snapped, recovering his composure.

"Apparently you did." Sirius retorted. He regretted it as his brother's face immediately became more hostile. "Look, Reg, you are not a bad person. You had the misfortune of being born into a crappy family."

"Don't talk about my family like that." Regulus snarled. Sirius noted he didn't say 'our'.

"I can talk about them as I please. Sadly they are mine too. Being blasted off the wall doesn't mean you aren't my family." Sirius told him. "I may have let you down before, I was blinded by house prejudice, but I don't want to let you down again."

"You turned your back on my family. I didn't need your help then. Nor do I need it now." Regulus held his head high.

"You don't know what they are capable of Reg. Voldemort," Regulus flinched. "Doesn't care for his followers. He will kill you without second thought if it benefits him regardless of your service."

"I have seen what they are capable of." Regulus told him. A flash of regret and disgust filled his face and then it was gone.

"Do you really want to spend the rest of your life torturing innocent people? Killing them?" Regulus didn't answer for a minute.

"I don't have a choice." He said.

"Yes you do." Sirius replied firmly. "There is always a choice. Sometimes there is a choice between what is right and what is easy. You have to make that choice Reg."

"You don't just sign up for the Dark Lord's service and then change your mind." Regulus hissed at him.

"Come with me. We can protect you." Sirius pleaded.

"I told you Sirius. I do not need your help. Nor can I afford to hide like a coward. There is something I need to do." Regulus said. "I have wasted enough time here."

"So why did you come in the first place?" Sirius shot at him.

"As you pointed out. We are still family. And maybe I missed my brother." Regulus whispered the last part. A look of longing crossed his regal features for a split second.

"I'm offering you the chance to be brothers again. Properly." Sirius told him.

"I have a job to do Sirius. I can't afford to be distracted."

"You knew that before you came here yet you came anyway. Stop giving me bullshit Reg." Siris said angrily. "I know about the horcrux you want to destroy." There was a loud gasp somewhere from Sirius' left but thankfully Regulus had gasped at the same time so didn't hear.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Regulus said after a seconds hesitation.

"Don't lie to me Regulus. I can help you destroy it. You don't think that Voldemort left the thing undefended do you?"

"Of course not. I know what I'm doing/" Regulus replied sharply.

"You're working against him. So am I. Reg we are on the same side!" Sirius said desperately.

"How can I trust you?" Regulus asked him.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that, as a Death eater?" Sirius sighed. "I give you my word as a Black that you can trust me." Regulus gaped him. His face was indecisive.

"I'll think about it." Regulus said finally. "I will send word through Kreacher if I wish to see you again."

"You're going to want to work on your occlumency." Sirius warned.

"Severus is helping me." Regulus told him. "Goodbye Sirius."

"Bye Reg." Sirius smiled which Regulus returned faintly. Regulus turned and disapparated. James and Remus came out from under the cloak.

"What on earth did you tell him we know about horcruxes for?" James demanded.

"It was the only way he would listen to me." Sirius defended.

"And what if he goes back and tells Voldemort we know about them?" Remus asked him.

"Sirius, I know you want to trust your brother, but as of now he is still a Death Eater." James said seriously. "You can't go giving away that we know stuff like that."

"I know. I screwed up!" Sirius snapped. "But he's my little brother. I failed him at school and in the future. I won't do it again." He added quietly.

"Well there is nothing we can do now. Let's get back." Remus sighed. The trio disapparated together.

Meanwhile, Lily squealed delightedly when the owl she had sent to Severus came flying in through the window and dropped a letter in her lap. Hermione came running in to find out what was going on to see Lily smiling at an open letter.

"Sev is willing to meet me in the woods in Cokeworth. In the old clearing we went to as kids." She beamed. "He might let me save him."

"That's great Lily." Hermione smiled. They were both looking at the letter when the boys came through the front door.

"You're back!" Lily exclaimed. "That was quick." The boys just shrugged. James shot Sirius an annoyed look but said nothing, dropping their bag of shopping onto a seat.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Sirius told Regulus we know about the horcrux he wants to destroy." Remus announced finally. Lily gasped and Hermione sighed.

"It could be worse." Hermione told them. "You shouldn't have, but there is nothing we can do now. If he is already trying to destroy it then he already has cold feet. I doubt he will turn you in to Voldemort."

"Thanks." Sirius smiled at her.

"What's that letter?" James asked.

"Sev agreed to meet me in the town we grew up in." Lily smiled. James looked unimpressed but resigned. He tried to remember his thought process where he was putting aside his hatred for Snape, but it seemed to be eluding him at the moment.

"Same thing?" Sirius suggested. "Two go under the cloak and scout then stay as back up." Everyone nodded.

"I'll get started on the potion." James said.

"I'll help. I want to see how it's done." Lily offered. "Remus would you mind feeding Harry?" Remus quickly agreed and went to fetch some food.

(A/N Any ideas for the animagus forms of Lily and Hermione please leave in a review. I will then tell you what the most popular options were next chapter, where you can vote for your favourite.)


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Snake

James and Lily worked together on the potion in a comfortable silence. Both of them concentrating hard, Lily was writing down the steps for the potion as James went along. Eventually she turned to her husband.

"How long does the potion take?"

"Two weeks." He replied. "It tastes disgusting, I'm warning you now."

"Worse than Polyjuice?" She asked.

"You know what polyjuice tastes like?" He raised an eyebrow, she just winked. "You weren't brewing some in school were you?"

"No of course not."

"Then you must have taken it since we got together. Are you keeping secrets from me?" He looked at her wide-eyed. Lily grinned at him.

"Nope. I've never taken it. I got Hermione to describe it." James now gaped at her.

"You almost tricked me? My own wife getting one up on me." He pouted but the amusement in his face ruined the image.

"It's not hard dear." Lily smirked.

"You're gonna get it." It was James' turn to smirk. He slowly stalked towards her holding out some itching powder he always kept on him for emergencies. Lily eyed him cautiously.

"You wouldn't?" But as soon as the words left her mouth she knew he would. James chuckled and threw it all over her. She immediately starting scratching all over while he just laughed at her. "You're sleeping on the couch for a week." Lily ground out.

"Aww Lils, I'm sorry." James begged. She shook her head and he groaned. "This is not fair." He moaned.

"It's perfectly fair." She grinned, but it only lasted a second as the itching started again. Both of them ended up calling a truce and laughing. James gave her the itching powder antidote. They managed to continue on with the potion and get it ready. It had to stew for a week before the next stage so they hurried back up to the others.

"When are you meeting Sniv...Snape?" James asked. Lily checked the clock.

"In about two hours. Who is going to do the scouting?" She replied.

"Me and Remus." Hermione told her.

"Why not me?" Whined Sirius.

"Why not me?" James moaned.

"Because I don't trust you two." Hermione said bluntly. "Well...I do," She amended at their horrified faces, "But not with this. I'm not sure you are ready to fully put this grudge behind you yet. We cannot afford Severus to know we are there. What if he tells Lily he still loves her? Are you going to refrain from hexing him out of habit?" She asked the duo. They looked at each other.

"Probably not if he declared his love for her there and then." James admitted looking irritated.

"Remus and I shall go twenty minutes early to make sure there are not Death Eaters hanging around. James, you don't mind if we borrow the cloak do you?" She asked.

"Not at all." He gave her a weak smile. Lily squeezed his shoulder supportively.

"Here." Sirius offered Lily and Hermione a mandrake leaf each. "Do not swallow it." He sniggered. They both took it and put it in their mouths.

"Yuck." Hermione grimaced.

"We have to do this for a month?" Lily groaned. They boys all nodded looking smug. Lily took Harry from Sirius' grip and went to put him down for a nap. They all sat around talking about becoming animagi and discussing possible animals for the two girls until it was time for Hermione and Remus to go. They left the house and went beyond the protective borders before disapparating.

Lily had given them the exact location. Landing awkwardly, Hermione stumbled into Remus knocking them both over.

Well if that isn't a stealthy entrance I don't know what is." Remus grinned at her. She blushed and stood up, offering him a hand which he took. Covering themselves in the cloak, the pair made their way through the woods. They found the clearing relatively easily. Hermione looked around very much reminded of the Forest of Dean. She reflexively clutched her beaded bag close to her.

They checked the whole area around the clearing and found nobody. After fifteen minutes there was a loud crack and Snape came striding into view. Hermione gaped at the younger version of her professor. The last time she had seen him, he had been crumpled on the floor, covered in blood and dying. Now he was here sixteen years younger. He hadn't changed much. There was less confidence in his stride and his skin was a slightly healthier colour but not by much. He stood in the clearing staring around, his wand out and in a defensive position.

Suddenly there was another loud crack and Lily came into the clearing, her wand also raised, watching Snape with a mixture of relief and wariness on her face.

"Sev?" Lily called. Hermione watched in astonishment as one word melted the hard look on Snape's face, to be replaced with one of hope and happiness. "What did you tell me about the first time we talked in this clearing?" She asked.

"You asked me about Dementors so I told you and them and about Azkaban." He replied calmly. Lily grinned.

"I missed you Sev." She took a step closer.

"I missed you too Lils." He replied quietly. "What did you want to speak to me about?"

"Oh Sevvy. I wanted to say I'm sorry for the way I treated you in our last two years at school." Snape looked taken aback.

"Why now?" He asked cautiously.

"Because I feel responsible for you becoming a Death Eater." She replied. "I feel like, if I had forgiven you then maybe I could have saved you."

"Lily. Lils, nothing could have stopped me following this path." He couldn't look her in the face for fear of what he might see there.

"You can. You can still turn back Sev. It's not too late." Lily pleaded.

"It is too late for me Lils." He replied, looking up.

"You know Voldemort is going to come after me Sev. We have defied him three times, he doesn't forgive that. He wants my whole family dead, he's already killed my parents. I need my best friend back." Snape took a step towards her. His face was indecisive.

"Lil…" He trailed off looking miserable. "He'll kill me."

"You're amazing at Occlumency Sev. He'll never find out."

"You want me to spy?" He asked incredulously. "Do you know how ridiculous that is?"

"I wouldn't trust this to anyone but you Sev. The only way to defeat Voldemort is to have inside information. But if you don't want to, at least go into are better than this Sev."

"I'll do it Lils. For you." He sighed. Lily's face broke into a grin and she ran over and gave him a huge hug which he returned happily. Behind the tree Remus was very glad they had not allowed James to come. He would have hexed Severus by now. "What do you need me to find out?"

"Any plans so we can prevent attacks if it is possible. But the most important is any objects he has entrusted to certain Death Eaters."

"Objects?" Snape asked in confusion.

"Yes. He has made Horcruxes Sev. We need to find out where they are hidden. We have almost persuaded Regulus Black to help as well so you might not be alone."

"Regulus?" No wonder he asked me for Occlumency lessons." Snape pondered.

"It's critical he gets them." Lily urged.

"Occlumency lessons. Spying on the Dark Lord. Finding Horcruxes. Anything else?" He asked a little sarcastically.

"No. I can't thank you enough for this Sev." Lily smiled, wrapping her arms around him again. He rested his head on top of hers.

"I swear I won't let anything happen to you Lils." He promised.

"I trust you." She replied. They chatted a little more, catching up on old times. They laid on the grass together. After half an hour or so Lily reluctantly admitted she had to go. "I've got a meeting with Dumbledore."

"Alright Lils. I'll owl you in our code when I have some information." Snape smiled at her.

"Thank you so much Sev." She kissed his cheek and then stood up. Lily left the clearing and disapparated. Snape stood there dumbstruck, his fingertips on the spot that Lily had just kissed him. Remus and Hermione waited another minute before following Lily and disapparating. When they got back into the house, they saw Lily and James arguing.

"You were gone forever. I was worried sick." James was saying.

"I was catching up with my old friend." Lily sighed.

"He's in love with you. The more time you spend with him, the more you are going to encourage him." James' voice was raising. Lily looked slightly guilty at that. James noted and raised an eyebrow. "What happened."

"I gave him a hug James. I'm a horrible person for hugging my friend." Lily snapped.

"James let it go." Hermione intervened. "We watched the whole thing. They hugged and talked. No need to get worked up." Lily and James whirled around. Lily smiled grateful at Hermione.

"Fine. So we now have _him_ on our team, we just need to get Regulus fully on board. Then we can start making such plans." James snarled the word 'him'. Lily scowled at him but let it go.

"When is the Order meeting?" Lily asked.

"It's in a few days." Sirius told her.

"Oh. I thought it was today." She sighed.

The next few days passed slowly for the five of them. Sirius returned to work and was bringing home more stories of Death Eater attacks on muggle villages. They lost two Aurors at a raid not far from Hogsmeade. The day of the meeting, Sirius got an owl from his brother. He opened it excitedly while he and Hermione were alone together at Sirius' flat. Remus was out, he had managed to get a job at Flourish and Blotts.

"Reg is willing to see me again. He spoke to Snape and the pair have agreed to spy for us." Sirius grinned excitedly.

"That's wonderful Sirius. When you see him again, you need to ask him to somehow collect a hair from Lucius Malfoy and Rudolphus Lestrange. It will be much easier to break into Gringotts with both of them." Hermione smiled at him. They were curled up on the couch watching tv. Sirius had his arm around Hermione's shoulders.

"I will 'Mione. We can also go get the locket with his help. We can take Kreacher who can drink that stupid potion." Hermione pursed her lips.

"So that will hopefully give us access to the Cup and the Diary. Along with the locket and the Diadem. We also know where the ring is. We just don't have a way to destroy them really. Fiendfyre is really dangerous."

"Yeah. You guys destroyed them all with basilisk venom. We don't have any parselmouths." Sirius sighed.

"The Lovegood's." Hermione suddenly sat up.

"What about them?" Sirius asked.

"When we were at their house it got blown up by an Erumpent Horn. The fluid in the horn might destroy a horcrux."

"It's worth a try. But the fluid is a Class B Tradeable Material." Sirius told her.

"You're an auror. Could you get your hands on some?" Hermione asked him. He looked thoughtful and then nodded.

"If I can't, Dung might be able to." Hermione sighed but nodded in agreement.

"We should ask Dumbledore at the Order meeting." She said. Sirius agreed and then pulled her back against him.

"We have an hour or so before we have to go. You want to get ready, Miss Lupin." He smirked.

"Let's go in half an hour. I want to speak to Dumbledore beforehand." Hermione said

"Alright Princess." Sirius replied with a grin. He knew she hated that nickname. Hermione rolled her eyes and then got up. She flooed back to the Potter's house and greeted James who was playing with Harry.

"Lily's staying to look after him while we go to the meeting." James told her.

"I'm going to go early with Sirius. We had an idea about using Erumpent horn fluid to destroy Horcruxes that we want to discuss with him."

"That's not a bad idea." James smiled approvingly. "Want me to go with you?" He offered.

"Thanks James. We will be going in half an hour." Then she went upstairs to get ready. Once Sirius had arrived, he showed Hermione the address he had gotten from Moody and they left the house's protective boundaries so they could disapparate together. Remus would be meeting them there after work. Once at the designated apparating point, they concentrated on what they had just seen and suddenly a large manor house came into view.

(A/N The choices for Hermione's animagus form are: Otter, Owl, German Shepherd (Rebel Dixie Babe suggested dog, after some research this type seemed to fit her best), Lion, Sphinx, Raven or Wolf. Thanks to everyone for your ideas. It has been unanimously decided that Lily will be a doe)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Order of the Phoenix

Hermione gazed at the manor in astonishment. The only manor house she had been to had been the Malfoy's which was dark and evil. This house was white with various coloured flowers decorating the balconies. It stood three stories tall and the garden was extremely well kept. A fountain tinkled away to her left and to her right was a stretch of grass leading to a woods.

"This is McKinnon Manor." Sirius informed her.

"Wow." Was all Hermione could reply.

"You think this is nice? You should see Potter Manor." James boasted with a grin. The trio approached the front door and Sirius let them in. He led the way down a corridor with portraits hanging on the cream walls. A door stood ajar to their left but they ignored it and went up a flight of stairs to another corridor. Then James opened the first door to their right and went inside. The room was very large. In the middle stood a long oak table and chairs. The carpet was a rich red colour and the walls cream. No portraits were in here, instead there were beautiful muggle paintings of scenery. Hermione was puzzled as this was clearly a wizarding house, but dismissed the thought as Dumbledore rose from a chair to greet them.

"Good morning. You three are very early." He beamed.

"Yes, we wanted to talk to you professor." Hermione said. Lowering her voice she added. "I remembered being in Xenophilius Lovegood's house when the Death Eaters attacked and the house being blown up. I was wondering if we could use Erumpent Horn fluid to destroy the you know whats."

"That is a very good idea Miss Lupin. Based on the research I have managed to do that would be sufficient to destroy the…" He broke off as the door opened again. Remus came in looking tired but happy and hurried over to the group. "Good morning Mr Lupin, I was just telling these people that Erumpent Horn fluid is a very good idea. It should destroy a horcrux enough that it can't fix itself. The trouble would be getting hold of some."

"I can try and get hold of some through work." Sirius offered.

"Or use Mundungus." James suggested.

"I would not recommend Mr Fletcher, the less people who know the better. Going through the MInistry is also dangerous." He warned. "I will look into the matter once we are finished here." They all straightened up as the door opened yet again. This time a small, pretty young witch came in. She had dark brown hair that curled past her shoulders and chocolate coloured eyes to match.

"Good morning Professor, Remus, James. Hey Trouble."

"Oi." Sirius pouted. "I'm no more trouble than James is."

"Yes you are." Remus grinned.

"Traitor." Sirius shot back. Then he winced slightly at his poor choice of words and Remus stiffened.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you must be new." The woman said, breaking the awkward silence and looking at Hermione. "I'm Marlene McKinnon."

"Hermione Lupin. I'm Remus' cousin." Hermione smiled, taking the hand offered and shaking it.

"Pleasure to meet you. Please make yourself at home." Marlene smiled. "No Lily today?" She asked James.

"No. She's home with Harry." James replied with a small smile. They began taking their seats. Hermione sat between Sirius and Remus. They made small talk among themselves until other started filing in. Hermione was watching them in fascination. Almost every person that walked into the room she had never met because they had died. She almost fainted when two dark haired twins came in the cheeky grins. They could only be Gideon and Fabian Prewett. Other than hair colour, they looked eerily similar to Fred and George. However the most heart stopping moment was when Frank and Alice Longbottom walked in. She let out an audible gasp, but thankfully only the two sat next to her heard. Alice looked so similar to Neville. The same round, kind face and dark hair.

Once everyone was seated they all turned to face Dumbledore expectantly. He stood and smiled warmly.

"Welcome everyone. Before we begin today we have a new member. Miss Hermione Lupin has moved here from America. She is Remus' cousin." Hermione stood up, trying not to blush.

"Hi everyone." Hermione smiled. They all nodded politely. She sat back down and Sirius squeezed her hand gently, giving her a reassuring smile.

"How do we know we can trust her?" Moody asked.

"Remus has vouched for her." Dumbledore assured him.

"My cousin has as much interest as us in defeating Voldemort." Remus spoke up. Moody eyed him suspiciously but let the matter go.

"As you all know Voldemort's supporters grow ever more bold. There are more and more attacks happening in muggle towns. The Ministry is stretched to breaking point trying to cope. Is there any news in the auror department?" Dumbledore asked.

"After we lost Gibbons and Dorset last week they have put stricter orders on missions. No less than four to a raid no matter what it's for. We've been assigned to work with Kingsley and Black." Fabian told him.

"Your two, Kingsley and Sirius are a group?" Dumbledore asked in surprise.

"Yeah. With Sirius being a newby and Kingsley being one of the most senior aurors it seemed like a good pairing. And they know it's no good to separate Fabian and I so we got stuck with them." Gideon replied.

"How come I wasn't informed yet?" Sirius asked.

"Groups were posted this morning." Fabian informed him. "Kingsley hasn't even seen it yet."

"No. But I see I'm going to have my work cut out." Kingsley sighed.

"Well from the raid last week, we managed to capture a minor Death Eater who told us they have a hideout in Wiltshire." Fabian continued.

"Wiltshire? Isn't that where Malfoy Manor is?" James asked, wide-eyed. Marlene nodded.

"Well that would be fun to raid." Sirius said sarcastically.

"There is no way we would get permission to raid Malfoy Manor." Gideon told them. "Scrimgeour would want overwhelming evidence before it came to that."

"Well that confession…" Remus began.

"Isn't enough." Sirius sighed. "If they only said Wiltshire that's not definite proof Malfoy has anything to do with it."

"Maybe there is hope for you yet Black." The twins grinned in unison.

"We should keep a watch around the manor." Elphias Doge interrupted. "We ourselves need proof before we do anything."

"He's right. We currently don't know much about You-Know-Who's plans." Edgar Bones reminded the table.

"Anything to report on that front?" Dumbledore asked Benjy Fenwick.

"I've been following Travers for the last week or so. He seems to make frequent trips to Knockturn Alley. I haven't seen him buying anything yet though." Benjy replied ruefully.

"I used the invisibility cloak to track Dolohov. He has meetings with Rookwood quite often." Caradoc Dearborn informed the room.

"Rookwood? The unspeakable?" Kingsley asked.

"Yes. I can't ever get close enough to hear." Caradoc frowned.

"Meetings with Dolohov can't be considered a good thing. Fabian, Gideon, you two keep an eye on Rookwood while at the Ministry." Dumbledore requested. They saluted.

"Yes Sir." They grinned.

"Albus, word on the street is that Barty Crouch is pushing to get Aurors extended powers. He wants us to be able to use the Unforgivables on suspects." Mad-eye spoke for the first time. It was evident he despised the idea.

"What?" Gasped the room as a whole.

"How likely is this to happen, Alastor?" Dumbledore questioned sharply.

"Knowing Crouch, very. The Minister trusts his judgement absolutely." Moody rolled his eyes. Hermione was astonished to notice he had both his normal eyes. A chunk of his nose was still missing though.

"That man gets more ruthless by the day." Dorcas Meadows cried. "Much longer and we will be no better than the Death Eaters."

"While on the note of worrying legislation, I've heard that Dolores Umbridge is trying to push through some more anti werewolf legislation. As well as some more against half breeds in general. It's going to push them all towards You-Know-Who." Edgar Bones put in. "I heard my boss talking about it."

James and Sirius scowled violently and Remus sighed. He was used to this by now but it still worried him. Much more legislation and he won't be able to get a job at all.

"That woman causes more trouble than she's worth. The amount of legislation she has pushed through against half breeds is why Voldemort has half the supporters he does." Frank Longbottom frowned.

"We need an advocate among the werewolves." Gideon suggested.

"And any other people we are pushing away from society. We can't afford to send more supporters to him." Fabian continued his brother's thought. Dumbledore cast a sideways glance at Remus. James and Sirius glared at him in return.

"Edgar, is it possible for you to find some way to at least delay this legislation proposed by Madam Umbridge, if not defeat it?" McGonagall asked.

"I can try. Prescott likes Umbridge though. She shares the same views that anything not completely human is beneath us." Edgar sighed sadly.

"Crouch probably won't stand in the way either. As head of the Magical Law Enforcement his input with be required, but he will more than likely go with it." Kingsley said.

"Right. Edgar, you keep track of the legislation as much as possible. Kingsley, Alastor, you two need to keep ahead and inform us of any planned raids. It would probably be beneficial for some Order members to accompany the aurors discreetly if at all possible." Dumbledore said authoritatively.

"Do we need to trail any more particular Death Eaters?" Benjy asked.

"Other than Travers and Dolohov, it would be a good idea to at least keep an eye on Malfoy and the Lestranges. Caradoc, Fabian and Gideon, you three lead that, but do not go anywhere alone. Minimum pairs only." Alastor put in.

"Keeping an eye on Regulus Black can't hurt either. He and Snape seem to be sneaking off alone quite a lot." Dorcas noted. Sirius and Dumbledore exchanged a glance.

"Those two are to be considered lesser targets. There are not enough of us to keep track of every important Death eater." Dumbledore said regretfully.

"How is recruiting going?" Emmeline Vance asked.

"Other than Miss Lupin, very slow at the moment." Kingsley frowned.

"Twins, don't forget to also keep an eye on Rookwood." McGonagall reminded them.

"Yes Minnie." They winked. James and Sirius burst out laughing and high fived them across the table. McGonagall scowled at all of them.

"Same time next week then?" Dumbledore asked. Everyone nodded. The meeting broke up and people left in ones and twos.

"Welcome to England Miss Lupin." Fabian came over and bowed to her.

"Such a pleasure to meet you." Gideon elbowed his brother out of the way and kissed Hermione's hand. She laughed at their theatrics.

"Nice to meet you too. And you are?" She asked.

"The brightest, funniest, best looking duo you will ever meet." Fabian beamed.

"These jokesters are Gideon and Fabian Prewett. Second best pranksters Hogwarts ever saw." Sirius made the introductions.

"Excuse me?" They both spluttered indignantly. "Second best?"

"You can't beat the Marauders." James puffed his chest out.

"Sorry boys, but Mr Potter is correct." McGonagall smiled. "Those four have caused more than half of my grey hairs."

"You're gonna make us blush." Remus grinned. She rolled her eyes. The twins then left, leaving only McGonagall and Dumbledore with James, Remus, Sirius and Hermione.

"Mr Black, you are going to be in charge of trying to get Erumpent Horn material. Remus…"

"You can't ask Remus to do that Professor." James protested.

"It's alright James." Remus interrupted tiredly.

"No it's not. It's way too dangerous to send you in to parley with other werewolves." Sirius argued.

"I believe it to be necessary." Dumbledore said regretfully. "You wouldn't need to stay long Remus. Simply long enough to get a general feel of their mood."

"What exactly did you have in mind?" Remus asked warily.

"You would need to stay with a wolf pack for a few months. They will not trust you easily."

"A few months?" James exclaimed. "Rem…"

"Look, we want to fight Voldemort right? If I need to do this, then I guess I should at least try. I can leave if it gets too rough." Remus tried to reason with his friend.

"Remus, are you sure you're ok to do this?" Hermione asked him.

"When would I need to go, and where?" Remus asked.

"There is a known werewolf pack in a small, old muggle village a hundred miles south of Hogsmeade. You would need to go as soon as possible." Dumbledore looked at him sadly.

"Remus, you can't be considering this." James pleaded.

"James, I don't have a job, nor am I able to get one. I can't do much for the Order in terms of recruitment because I'm a werewolf. It makes sense." Remus gave his friends his a weak smile.

"You wouldn't be able to have contact with us for months." Sirius frowned.

"You'd have the apartment to yourself." Remus reminded him.

"True. Ok off you go." Sirius grinned.

"Sirius!" Hermione scolded, smacking his arm in mock anger.

"Ow!" Be careful woman." Sirius whined.

"Enough." McGonagall interrupted. "Remus will you go?"

"Yes Professor. I will do it." Remus sighed. "I can leave next week."

"Excellent. Thank you Remus." Dumbledore smiled. "We will see you next week, and I will begin some arrangements for you."

"Speaking of arrangements, I shall begin searching for the Diadem in the Room of Requirement as soon as Sirius has the exploding material."

Everyone nodded and left the room. Sirius, James, Remus and Hermione walked out of the house and disapparated together

(A/N Sorry this is pretty much a filler chapter, I've been mega busy lately. So far on the animagus vote, it has been decided that Lily will definitely be a Doe. The vote for Hermione is still open but the result won't be known until it comes up in the story which will be another few chapters. The pace will pick up soon.)


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Raid

Once they were back at Godric's Hollow, Sirius bade them all goodbye. He informed them he was going to meet his brother.

"Be careful Sirius. Shouldn't one of us go with you?" Lily asked him anxiously.

"No. It'll go better if it's just me and Reg." Sirius replied.

"Be very careful." Hermione warned, giving him a hug.

"When am I not?" SIrius grinned.

"All the time." Remus chuckled.

"That's not...I am always...Ok...You might have a point." Sirius conceded. They all laughed. James clapped him on the back. He kissed Hermione briefly and then left. Regulus had agreed to meet him by the Shrieking Shack once again. He strode up to the familiar building and saw his brother leaning casually against the wall, arms folded across his chest. It stuck Sirius how regal Regulus looked in the sunlight, looking down towards him his face expressionless.

"Hi Reg." He started, hoping to break the ice.

"Sirius." His brother's tone was cold, but there was a faint hint of hope. He quickly cast a few spells around the area and then turned back to face Sirius. "Severus and I have agreed that we will help you defeat the Dark Lord. He has also agreed to give me occlumency lessons where and when possible."

"That's great Reg." Sirius smiled warmly.

"He has also asked to borrow Kreacher for a task. I do not know what he needs him for, only that he requires a House Elf. I'm sure it is to do with his Horcruxes, I will know more once Kreacher returns. He left this morning."

"He is probably testing the protection on Kreacher. House Elves are more disposable than humans to Mouldyshorts." Regulus shot him a dark look at the nickname.

"It's a possibility. If that's the case, I will have Kreacher show me where it is and I can recover the horcrux." Sirius was alarmed. That's what had happened before and Regulus died.

"That's a bad idea Reg. I should take Kreacher. If it goes wrong and Voldemort finds out you are involved then he will kill you. He may not like it but Kreacher does have to listen to me too."

"If you are there he will know you found out through Kreacher. And the Dark Lord will know you would not have known to ask Kreacher about it except through me so I will be killed anyway. Not going will not spare me brother."

"Then at least take someone with you. Kreacher can give you an idea of what you will face, but two is always better than one."

"You would go with me?" Regulus looked unsure. At that moment Sirius remembered that his brother was only eighteen and he, Sirius, had not been there to help him through most of his life.

"Yes, Reg, I would go and help you. We can redeem the name of Black together."

"Our parents will be rolling in their graves." Regulus gave a wry grin. Sirius chuckled. "I cannot stay long or my presence will be missed. I will send Kreacher to you to inform you of what he has discovered. Send me a message through him of when we are to go hunting. If you do not hear from me assume that I agree to the time and place. I will let you know if it is not possible."

"Sure thing. We also need you and Snivellus to try and get a hair of both Lucius Malfoy and Rudolphus Lestrange if possible." Regulus looked at him, bewildered.

"You want to change into them? Why?"

"Helps for spying purposes. Our dear cousin Bellatrix and her husband are pretty close to Mouldyshorts so it makes sense to be him. And Malfoy is just a slimy git, but he has a lot of monetary influence."

"That can't be the only reason." Regulus eyed him shrewdly.

"As Rudolphus is close to him it makes sense that he would be most likely to know of any objects that could potentially be horcruxes even if he doesn't know exactly what they are." Sirius explained.

"Alright, I'll try my best." Regulus agreed.

"Thanks. Remember to keep up your occlumency practise. Stay safe." Sirius reached out to embrace his brother, and then thought better of it, settling on a handshake.

"I will. Stay safe yourself Sirius. It's good to have you back." He admitted, again looking as young as he really was, before the empty, cold mask of the Death Eater he had been was back. Sirius nodded and then they both separated and disapparated.

Meanwhile, Lily and Hermione had been sorting out the next steps of the animagus potion. It was halfway done now and it was an ugly shade of green exactly as James said it should be. Remus came down to see them. He had just got in from work. He looked grave as James came in behind him, his eyes a little red as if he had been crying. James immediately wrapped an arm around Lily.

"We have some bad news." He said. His voice was croaky.

"What is it James?" Lily asked tentatively.

"There was a Death Eater attack in Cokeworth this morning. The Dark Mark was found over muggle dwelling." Remus told them. Lily gasped.

"Cokeworth?" Her eyes were wide, the colour draining from her face. James nodded. Her eyes flickered between James and Remus. "No! You're wrong?" She cried.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked, looking worried and confused.

"Lily, I'm so sorry. Sirius has been called to the scene. He sent a patronus saying no survivors." Remus managed before Lily collapsed into James' arms sobbing. James held her close and stroked her hair, looking miserable himself as a single tear trickled down his cheek. Picking her up bridal style, James took Lily to the front room and laid her on the couch.

"I'm going to put Harry to sleep." James announced, disentangling himself from Lily, who barely seemed aware of her surroundings, and picking up the baby who had been playing in the corner with a stuffed dog.

"Lily's parents were murdered in the attack." Remus explained to Hermione in an undertone.

"Oh No." She gasped. She knew that both Lily and James' parents had died before Voldemort had been defeated but she had never really given much thought as to when they must have died. James came back then and went straight back to Lily's side, pulling her against his chest. She simply sobbed but said nothing. Hermione and Remus felt like outsiders and that they should give Lily time to grieve in peace, so told the couple they were going back to Sirius' and Remus' apartment. Hermione gave Lily a hug before she left with a promise that if she needed anything, she was only a floo call away. Remus clapped James on the shoulder and gave Lily a squeeze. They disappeared and both collapsed into the nearest available chairs.

"Was James close to Lily's parents?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"Yes. When his own parents died of dragon pox just before the end of our seventh year, Lily's parents were there for James during that summer while he tried to find his feet. They let him stay with them until he could bear to go back home and helped him make all the necessary arrangements."

"That's so sweet of them." Hermione gave a small smile.

"Yeah. It really strengthened James and Lily's relationship. Both her and her parents were his rocks. He asked her dad for permission to marry Lily out of respect for them. He found out about that tradition through muggle films that she made him watch."

"Did you know them?"

"Not really. I only met them at James and Lily's wedding. They were really lovely people though." Remus looked wistful. Just then Sirius came through the fireplace looking miserable. He started when he saw Remus and Hermione. "We're giving them some time." Remus explained.

"Good. I imagine they are both wrecks. I wish I could help." Sirius moaned.

"You know James, he prefers to grieve alone. We should go back tomorrow to check on them." Remus sighed.

"Yeah. It's my day off tomorrow maybe we could all go out." Sirius suggested.

"That's a good idea." Hermione smiled weakly.

"How bad was it?" Remus asked, looking like he really didn't want to know.

"Their house and the two either side were the only ones affected. They would have destroyed the whole neighbourhood but the raid was led by Travers. Benjy Fenwick was trailing him at the time and was able to notify the Aurors and Dumbledore in time to stop anymore damage. Travers is now in custody but we didn't catch anyone else. Two Death Eaters were killed though we we suffered no losses. Gideon Prewett took a nasty gash to the head but the healers say he will be fine in a day or so. Total of seven muggles dead, including Lily's parents." He gave his report in a clinical, almost dead tone but his voice broke at the end. Hermione got up and sat next to him on the sofa, snuggling against his chest. He held her tightly and buried his face in her hair.

"Are you ok?" She asked quietly.

"Not really. It's one thing seeing the aftermath of these raids, but when it's people you know…" He trailed off knowing she understood. She squeezed his arm and he held her tighter.

(A/N I'm soooo sorry. I am alive, and I haven't given up I promise. My laptop broke and then I was on holiday. I'm all back with everything fixed. Up next animagus transformation, so this is you last chance to vote.)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Attack on Hogsmeade

The next morning Remus, Sirius and Hermione flooed over to the Potter's to find James entertaining Harry and Lily busily shuffling around the kitchen.

"I was wondering when you three would get here." Lily said in an overly cheerful voice with a forced smile. Her eyes were still red rimmed but she was no longer crying.

"You don't have to pretend for us Lily." Remus told her softly. She didn't acknowledge his comment and merely chivied them all into the kitchen and placed three sets of pancakes on the table. Instead of saying anything they all just sat down and started eating, giving her appreciative smiles and nods. James came and joined them, sitting Harry in his chair so Lily could begin feeding him. He kept them all thoroughly entertained by either refusing his food or throwing it over at James. After one lump got thrown in James' hair, Lily gave up while Sirius and Remus both laughed at him.

"Ok. No breakfast for you Harry." James sighed. The mood once again took a nosedive so Hermione cast about for a change of subject.

"Lily, how is the potion coming along?" She asked. Lily brightened visibly at this topic.

"Really well. I added the next few ingredients as per James' instructions. It's now the colour of liquorice as it apparently should be." She reported as she made herself some food now that Harry was sorted.

"So James does know what he is talking about?" Hermione asked in mock surprise.

"Oi!" James protested with a faint grin. "I always know what I'm talking about." Remus and Lily both snorted into their food.

"We should all go out today." Sirius suggested.

"And do what?" James asked.

"Dunno. Let's just get out of here and take our minds off everything, just for one day. Why don't we take a trip to Hogsmeade?"

"That's a good idea. I need a visit to Dervish and Banges." Remus said.

"I can't." Lily said in a small voice.

"Why not Lilypad?" Sirius asked

"I need to speak to my sister and make funeral arrangements and stuff." She sniffed.

"I can help you do that. Let's go meet Petunia and then we can meet the guys after for a drink." James offered. "You guys don't mind taking Harry do you?"

"Of course not." Sirius beamed. "I can take him to Zonko's."

"He's not even one Sirius." Lily warned.

"All the better to start young." James grinned. Then he grew sombre and dragged Lily to go and get ready. Sirius took Harry upstairs and got him dressed while Hermione started putting the dishes away and using magic to make them clean themselves.

Once Sirius came back down holding Harry, he took hold of Hermione's hand and led the way down the garden so they could disapparate beyond the wards. Remus followed closely behind and they all turned on the spot. They strode into Hogsmeade and Hermione looked around eagerly. It was good to see it rebuilt and not under the Death Eater charms. Zonko's was open again, having closed down in her sixth year. Remus took hold of Harry and Sirius wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist as they wandered through the streets.

Sirius dragged them all to Zonko's first, taking great delight in showing Hermione all the equipment he used to play pranks. She did laugh as he recounted James putting Frog spawn soap in the prefect's bathroom hoping to get revenge on Amos Diggory for asking Lily to Hogsmeade, only to be dismayed when Lily herself ended up using the stuff. Remus joined in, telling her how they had replaced all the Slytherin goblets with nose biting teacups one start of term feast.

Sirius bought a large box of Dr Filibuster's fireworks and some more Frogspawn soap which made Hermione slightly wary. She decided to double check everything Sirius gave to her.

"Remember the time James tried to put Bulbadox powder in Davey Gudgeon Quidditch robes and it exploded all over him? He was in the hospital wing for the whole weekend he got so much on him." Sirius laughed at Remus.

"I do happen to remember you trying to swap Severus' wand for a fake in Transfiguration and you forgot which one was the fake, accidently giving him yours." Remus chuckled. Sirius blushed as Hermione giggled.

"Not funny. He didn't give it back for the whole day. Neither of you would summon it back for me either." Sirius grumbled good naturedly. He was then distracted by Harry trying to grab an Ever-Bashing Boomerang. "No Harry. Your mum would kill me if I got you that. How about I get you a fake wand?"

"Stick!" Harry cried, pointing at the wand Sirius held out to him eagerly. Sirius went to the counter and bought a couple of fake wands for Harry. Once they left Zonko's, Remus went off with Harry to look in Dervish and Banges. Hermione dragged Sirius over to Gladrags Wizardwear to get some dress robes just in case. They agreed to meet at Honeydukes in half an hour. She tried on plenty of robes and couldn't find any she really liked. Sirius offered his opinion on each of them, patiently waiting for her, but nothing really stood out in her mind.

They met up with Remus and Harry who were already looking around Honeydukes. Remus was practically drooling over the chocolate while Harry was trying to get hold of every sweet he saw. Hermione smiled to herself, having dentist for parents, she didn't have very many sweets and when she did they were mostly sugar free. But she did miss having a few wizarding sweets. Sirius ended up buying almost anything Harry pointed at, including Acid Pops, Sugar Quills, Bertie Botts Every Flavoured Beans, Jelly Slugs and Exploding BonBons.

"You do realise Harry can't eat any of that don't you?" Hermione asked him in amusement.

"Precisely. He picked them out for me." Sirius grinned. Remus bought a few huge slabs of Honeydukes' own chocolate and some Chocolate Frogs. Hermione got a couple of Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs and some Every Flavour Beans. They also bought some sweets for Lily and James.

"Where to now?" Hermione asked. I don't mind, maybe we should head to the Three Broomsticks for a drink. Hopefully Lily and James will join us. They strode down the street, Harry back in Remus' arms. As they approached the door of the pub there were several loud cracks around them and figures in black robes apparated all around. Suddenly there was chaos. Curses flying everywhere and villagers running around madly.

"Take Harry and run!" Sirius yelled to Remus, drawing his wand. Hermione took out her own wand and began sending spells at the Death Eaters. She heard Remus try to disapparate.

"They have put up anti apparition wards." He cried out. That grabbed Sirius' attention. He and Hermione were facing in opposite directions, trying to cover Remus who was shielding Harry. He did have his wand out but his aim was off with the toddler squirming and crying at all the sudden noise. Having cast as many protection spells as she could remember over Remus and Harry, Hermione moved into a slightly better position, stunning the closest Death Eater.

Most villagers were now hiding in the shops, only a few braver ones remained fighting. Remus had taken Harry into the Three Broomsticks. Bodies were strewn across the ground and then Hermione heard the very voice that haunted her nightmares.

"You filthy blood traitor. Disgrace to your noble family." Bellatrix Lestrange was standing facing Sirius, her hood having fallen off in the battle.

"Noble my arse. They are all a bunch of pathetic, mindless soldiers who can't think for themselves." Sirius retorted. "Like you. 'Oh Master, I'm your most loyal servant, I love you so much, I'll kiss your feet." He taunted in a high pitched mimic of her voice. Bellatrix's face contorted with fury as she began throwing curses faster than before. Sirius was hard pressed to block them, having several near misses. Hermione was mesmerised by the sight. Sirius, weaving in and out of the flurry of green and red curses so elegantly. It was when the red jet of light finally caught Sirius and he screamed that she finally jerked herself out of the stir of memories Bellatrix's voice conjured up. Forcing herself out of Malfoy Manor and picturing Molly Weasley killing her, Hermione sent a stunning spell at the laughing Death Eater. She blocked but was forced to release Sirius from the spell who fell onto all fours coughing and groaning.

"What's this? Someone else wants to come out and play." Bellatrix was grinning manically as she turned her attention to Hermione. They began the deadly dance. Both throwing spells at the other, dodging and blocking with grace. The Death Eater was surprised by Hermione's agility and quick spell casting, and she was forced to up her game. It had been a long time since anyone had matched Bellatrix evenly. Not even Sirius caused her this many problems. Hearing Sirius scream had caused her blood to boil and every ounce of hatred she held within her for Bellatrix came bursting forth. Spell after spell fell from Hermione's lips a mixture of verbal and non-verbal spells.

Sirius was now back on his feet, covering Remus as Lucius Malfoy advanced with Dolohov at his side. Fighting two at once was hard, especially now the wind had been knocked out of him, but neither of them were as skilled at his cousin. Remus managed to hit Malfoy with a Jelly Legs Jinx through the broken window of the pub, which distracted him long enough for Sirius to stun him. Dueling Dolohov one on one was almost easy for Sirius and he disarmed him quickly. Before he could stun Dolohov, a stray cruciatus curse struck him in the back and his legs gave way beneath him. Every part of him was screaming in agony as the battle faded into the background. The pain stopped as suddenly as it had started and he lay there, aching all over, trying to catch his breath.

Dazed, he lifted his head and looked around, struggling to his feet. Hermione was still duelling Bellatrix, who had stopped taunting and was furiously focused on the woman in front of her. Sirius was determined to get between them, protect Hermione even though he knew he was in no condition to kill Bellatrix.

Then he heard running footsteps and turned. Aurors and members of the Order were running towards them, unable to apparate any closer. He heard a scream behind him and saw Hermione slump to the floor hit by some spell he could not identify from a distance. He saw Bellatrix raise her wand and summoned Hermione out of the way as a killing curse hit the spot she had been lying in seconds before. He sent a blasting curse at his cousin and watched as she was blown backwards. Before he could do anything else she turned and disapparated along with the rest of the Death Eaters still standing.

Now that the adrenaline was leaving his body, Sirius began to feel the ache in his body even more profusely. The world span and he staggered slightly, to be caught by Remus. He heard his name being called but his mouth was dry and he couldn't reply. Then someone screamed Hermione's name and his head snapped up. Hermione was still on the floor, feet from him where he had summoned her. The ground around her was slowly turning red. Bellatrix must have used a severing charm, causing a deep gash in her stomach. Remus grabbed his arm and helped him over to her unconscious body.

"'Mione." He croaked. "Wake up." James was standing over her, casting all the healing charms he could think of. The cut had been closed and the bleeding had stopped for which Sirius was grateful. Lily was standing nearby, clutching Harry to her trying to sooth the screaming baby.

"What happened?" She was demanding.

"We were heading for a drink. Death Eaters just appeared out of nowhere. They put up anti apparition wards so we couldn't leave. The villagers were running everywhere, curses flying around." Remus told her.

"James and I tried apparating in from Petunia's but we couldn't. We figured something was wrong so we went to McKinnon Manor where Caradoc was reporting to Dumbledore that Dolohov had been talking to Rookwood about at attack on Hogsmeade. We all tried but even Dumbledore couldn't get through. In the end we all apparated into Hogsmeade station which isn't technically in the village and ran from there. We arrived at roughly the same time as the Aurors.

"Black. Are you alright?" Gideon Prewett was standing over him. He and Fabian had been on duty that morning.

"Fine." Sirius croaked.

"Liar. Let's get you checked out."

"I'm fine. Just achey. Nothing a bit of rest won't cure. How's 'Mione?" He asked James urgently.

"Stable as far as I can tell. I've used every spell I know and the bleeding has stopped. Best get a healer to check her out though. In case I missed anything." James told him. Gideon nodded and went to fetch a healer.

"Thank God you're alive." James breathed. Pulling Sirius into a hug and then Remus.

"You won't get rid of me that easily." Sirius gave him a weak grin and dropped down beside Hermione, holding her close to him.

"Yeah, we'll both be around to annoy you for a long time yet." Remus winked at LIly who let out a choked laugh.

"We will need a statement from both of you. And Miss Lupin once she is fully recovered." Kingsley Shacklebolt had come over to check on Sirius.

"Yes Sir." Sirius replied. "What's the final count?"

"Two villagers dead and one Death Eater. Few injuries and we have caught Lucius Malfoy thanks to you apparently." Kingsley told them.

"What about Dolohov, I disarmed him but then I got hit."

"I stunned him." Remus informed him.

"We got him too. That's two major Death Eaters in our custody now. You fought well." Kingsley squeezed his shoulder and strode off.

"Bellatrix got away." Sirius cursed. Remus nodded sadly. "Least we got Malfoy I suppose." Fabian came over with a healer who began examining Hermione. Sirius waited impatiently for the verdict.

"She's fine. Whoever healed her did a fine job. No internal injuries. She will need rest and no physical stress for a few days." The healer told them. Sirius let out a relieved breath and stood up, carrying Hermione bridal style.

"Let's get her back home. I will give them a statement when I go in to work tomorrow." Sirius suggested. Fabian nodded his assent and the others all disapparated with Sirius and Hermione.

(A/N ok I lied, This chapter went on longer than planned so Animagi will be next chapter. Enjoy)


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Becoming Animagi

Once they were back at the Potter's cottage, Sirius took Hermione upstairs and put her to bed in the spare room. He practically collapsed beside her and pulled her head to his chest. He was both physically and mentally exhausted. Never had he been in a fight where he had been so scared, and not for his own safety. Deep down, he knew that Hermione could easily hold her own in a fight just from the story she had told them, but that didn't stop his heart skipping a beat every time a curse flew too close to her. Then she had gotten hurt and he hadn't been able to help. At the same time he was thankful that the severing curse had hit her stomach and not somewhere more vital such as a limb or her heart.

"Sirius, how are you feeling?" Lily came into the room, still holding Harry who was now sleeping on her shoulder.

"Achey. But I'm more concerned about 'Mione."

"I know. But James and that healer must know what they are doing. She will be fine." Lily reassured him.

"Yeah." Sirius grunted noncommittally. He wouldn't be convinced until she woke up. Seeing he was in no mood for reassurance, Lily gave him a smile and left to give him some space.

It was about half an hour before Hermione began to stir, just as James walked into the room with a plate full of food for Sirius. She blinked a few times and then stared up at Sirius who had fallen asleep beside her, his arm still clutching her tightly.

"What happened?" She asked groggily.

"You got hit by a severing curse. Healer says no physical activities for a few days." James informed her.

"What about Sirius, Remus? Is Harry ok?" Her voice rose a little.

"Everyone else is fine 'Mione. Sirius took a couple of hits but nothing major." He assured her. As they were talking Sirius stirred. He reflexively pulled Hermione closer and then opened his eyes.

"You're awake!" He exclaimed. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm...ok." Hermione replied. "My stomach aches a little but other than that I'm ok."

"Thank goodness. You had me worried for a minute." He felt relief wash over him and then spotted the plate of sandwiches James was holding. "Food!" Both James and Hermione laughed as he took a handful of sandwiches and then realised he only had one hand as the other was wrapped around Hermione. He looked around for a solution, then put the sandwiches back on the plate and grabbed the whole plate, placing it on his stomach so Hermione would reach it as well. She took one and nibbled it slowly while Sirius dug in with great fervour.

"Lily says you can stay here as long as you like but you don't get food in bed after this." James grinned.

"Aww. But I'm wounded." Sirius pouted.

"Not that badly Black." Came Lily's call from Harry's room. James and Hermione laughed. James then left them and Remus came in just to reassure himself they were ok. He sat on the edge of the bed and they started discussing the attack.

For the rest of the day Sirius made sure that Hermione stayed in bed and catered to her every whim. This gave James and Remus much cause for teasing about how whipped he was, but it was more for a sense of normality, as both of them would have done the same thing if Sirius wasn't around. Lily went back to working on the potion for them to turn into Animagi. It would be ready in a few days and she was getting excited. She was eager to find out what animal she would be.

By the next morning Hermione was eager to be out of bed. After reassuring Sirius for the sixth time that she wouldn't strain herself, and threatening to hex him, he finally agreed she could get up. He had to go into work and give a statement. Hermione all but kicked him out of the house as he was reluctant to leave her. She did appreciate his attentiveness, but it was a bit smothering after a while.

As Sirius strode through the Ministry, he was aware of the tightened security since the attack on Hogsmeade. Aurors stood at all the grates and apparition points. He sighed, guessing that would be his job at some point. Gideon and Fabian would take great delight in putting him in such a boring post.

"Morning Black." Kingsley greeted him as he reached his cubicle in the Auror office.

"Good Morning Sir." He replied.

"How are you today?"

"Fine thanks. Ready to get back up and at 'em." Sirius grinned.

"Good, good. I just need you to give a statement and then you have been assigned to grate 6 for the morning. Gideon will switch with you at lunchtime. Then you need to catch up on your paperwork for the raid last week."

"Yes Sir." He sighed. At least it was only guard duty for the morning. He followed Kingsley into his cubicle to tell him exactly what happened. Once he was done, he made his way down to the atrium and relieved Fabian from grate 6.

"Have fun." Was Fabian's parting comment as his disappeared into the crowd. Most of Sirius' shift passed incredibly slowly. The only vaguely interesting part was when Narcissa Malfoy came sliding out of the grate he was guarding with a baby in her arms. His wand was pointed at her before he could think. A second later he realised what he was doing and lowered his arm so his wand wasn't pointed at her face.

"What are you doing here?" He spat.

"None of your business." She replied haughtily, however Sirius could see the worry in her eyes. He realised she must be here for Lucius' trial. He let her pass and was relieved to see, nobody had really noticed their encounter.

Back at the Potter's, Hermione was helping Lily with the potion and James was entertaining the baby with Remus. They were supposed to planning his first birthday party as it was only a few days away, but they decided it was safer to just have a little party in the house amongst themselves. Lily already had the necessary food and decorations so there was very little for anyone else to do.

The next few days passed relatively quickly. Sirius kept bringing reports home of more Death Eater attacks on muggle villages. He also heard from Kreacher that Regulus wanted to meet him to arrange time to get the locket from the cave. Sirius had told him that they would speak after the next Order meeting so he could speak to Dumbledore. There wasn't another Order meeting until Sunday, and Harry's party would be held afterwards as Sirius had to work on the Monday which was his actual birthday. On Saturday, Lily announced that the Animagi potion was ready. She and Hermione were stood in the kitchen with a glass each. The potion was a light green colour and was still bubbling.

"Well it looks right." Sirius commented.

"Good to know." Hermione smiled weakly. They both gingerly picked up their glass and downed the potion. It tasted of mint and mandrake leaves as the leaf in their mouths was dissolved by the potion. After a few seconds they both looked at each other, and then at James.

"I don't feel any different." Hermione stated. "You Lily?"

"Nope. I feel exactly the same. Did it go wrong?"

"No. You're not supposed to feel different. Now, at your own leisure you can meditate and try to transform parts of your body." James told them.

"But if we don't know what animal you're changing to, how do we try to transform?" Hermione asked.

"We all became our patronus' so when we did it, we focused on our patronus animal, I don't know if you two will do the same but it seems like a good place to start." Sirius said. "'Mione, what's yours?"

"It was an otter. But I've changed so much I don't know if it still will be."

"Well, try and cast the charm again." Remus suggested. Hermione nodded and focused on the feeling of belonging and family she had found among these people.

"Expecto Patronum!" She called. A huge silvery shape burst out of her wand. It was far too big to be an otter. As it came into focus, Remus choked slightly and Hermione gasped. A dazzling silver wolf was padding around the room. "Wow." She breathed. Nobody said anything for a few seconds and the patronus faded. Remus and Sirius were staring at the spot where it had vanished. James was grinning and Hermione pulled Remus into a hug.

"They really are beautiful." Lily smiled.

"Well as your cousin Remus, it seems I'm also part of the pack." Hermione joked. Remus gave her a shy grin. Once everyone had recovered slightly, Lily casts the charm as well. Having done Patronus charms in seventh year, she knew it was a doe, but felt like checking. A beautiful silver doe did emerge from her wand, causing James to also cast the spell, his stag coming to rest next to the doe. Everyone watched the couple as the animals faded, leaving the room seemingly dimmer than before.

"Well, now that the show is over, why don't you two go a meditate while we look after Harry." James suggested. Lily and Hermione both nodded.

"You can use the apartment." Sirius offered.

"Remember, clear your minds, and then focus only on transforming to your animal." Remus advised.

"Thanks." Hermione grinned gratefully and flooed to Sirius and Remus' apartment. They sat on the couch and then realised that it would probably be better to lie down, so Lily summoned some cushions and lay them out of the floor.

Hermione lay herself down and closed her eyes. She was so used to thinking on her feet or trying to strategize that she found it extremely difficult to completely clear her mind. She likened the process to trying to learn occlumency and suddenly found she had a lot more pity for Harry when he had had lessons from Snape.

Lily was also struggling to clear her mind. Her constant worry about Severus along with the pain of losing her parents came to the forefront when she wasn't distracted and so trying to clear her mind required a patience Lily found herself very short of these days. After half an hour or so, Lily finally found herself reasonably peaceful and so began thinking about becoming a doe. She decided to focus on transforming her hand into a hoof and tried to think solely about that. Blocking out all other thoughts Lily suddenly felt a strange tingling in her left hand. It wasn't painful, but she could feel the bones shifting and changing. Opening her eyes, she looked down and yelped in surprise as she saw that her arm was now covered in light brown fur ending in a grey hoof. Startled out of concentration her hand changed back as she watched. Hermione looked up, startled by the yelp, just in time to see Lily's arm lose the last of its fur.

"Wow. You managed to change your whole arm?" She asked, impressed.

"Seems so. That felt so strange. I could feel my bones moving and it felt like it should hurt, but it didn't." Lily tried to explain the bizarre sensation. "How are you doing?"

"I can't clear my head." Hermione confessed. "There is just so much to think about and digest and focus on that I can't get rid of it."

"Don't focus too hard on clearing your mind. If you try too hard then you will be thinking about clearing your mind rather than actually doing it. If you know what I mean? Well for me, it worked just thinking about literally nothing. Or if you need to focus, then concentrate purely on transforming one part of your body. I chose my hand and thankfully that's what changed." Lily tried to help.

"Thanks Lil." Hermione smiled gratefully. They both resumed their positions. Another half an hour later, Lily had managed to transform her whole arm and keep it that way for more than a few seconds. Hermione had yet to change any part of her body and was becoming increasingly frustrated.

"Maybe you should leave it for today." Lily suggested. "The more frustrated you get, the harder it will become."

"You're right." Hermione sighed. "Shall we get back?"

"Good idea." They both got up, banished the cushions back and headed to the floo. Staggering out of the floo, Hermione did a double take as she saw that most of the front room was covered in stuffing from the couch. Lily came out of the fireplace right behind her and yelled.

"What on earth has been happening in here!"

"Ahh. Lils, we thought you'd be gone longer. I can explain." James came running into the front room holding Harry. Sirius was laughing right behind him.

"And where is Remus?" Hermione asked, looking around. He then emerged into the room from upstairs, looking somewhat sheepish.

"Well, erm...Harry was bored you see." Sirius started. Lily narrowed her eyes. "And we thought I could transform and give him rides."

"I don't see how you could create so much mess giving my son simple rides." Lily said dangerously.

"It may not have been just simple rides." James interjected. "After the rides we thought we could entertain Harry by making Sirius do an obstacle course in dog form. Remus may have accidentally blown up the couch while trying to create an obstacle."

"Remus!" Lily whirled around, looking betrayed. "I thought you were the responsible one." He grinned, looking more sheepish than before.

"I am."

"Heaven help us all." Hermione interjected. Then she repaired the couch. "No harm done Lily." Remus mouthed 'Thanks' to her when Lily moved into the kitchen huffing.

"So, how did it go?" Sirius asked.

"I can't seem to clear my head. I can't focus enough." Hermione frowned.

"It does take time. Especially with what you must be thinking about constantly. I think I've got some books on learning occlumency that you might find helpful." He offered.

"That would be great thanks." She smiled. He pulled her in for a hug.

"How did you do Lils?" James asked.

"I got my left arm to change." She beamed, coming back in with food. The boys all dug in while offering their congratulations.

"It took me a few tries to transform." James said "But it took Sirius ages, until we scared him to do it. So don't be disheartened if you don't do it straight away 'Mione."

"Yesterday I managed to speak to someone in the Auror office and he might be able to get me some erumpent horn material. He should be able to give it to me next week. Which means we can get started on finding the Diadem." Sirius reported.

"We can speak to Professor Dumbledore tomorrow then. You have to meet Regulus in the afternoon, but Remus and I could go and find it."

"Not a bad idea. You and Lily can enjoy some couple time." Sirius waggled his eyebrows and Lily cuffed him over the back of the head. After dinner and some chatting, Lily and Hermione wanted to have another go but the boys persuaded them to wait until morning. They bid goodnight and everyone went to get some sleep.

Next morning the gang gathered in the Potter's kitchen eating pancakes for breakfast right before the next Order meeting. They had a couple of hours to spare in which the girls were going to try transforming again. At the apartment they got the cushions out again and lay down. It didn't take Lily long to transform her arm again, but she struggled to change anything else. So it took her by surprise when suddenly her nose and mouth lengthened and sprouted fur. She tried to say something but no words came out.

Hermione heard a strange noise and opened her eyes, crying out in surprise when she saw Lily with a deer's nose. Giving a startled laugh, she tried to resume clearing her head. She focused on changing her arm as that seemed a simple place to begin. Just as Hermione began focusing hard on changing her arm, there was a bright light as the fireplace flared up and a loud crash which sounded louder than normal in the silence, causing both girls to jump violently. Hermione felt the same sensation Lily had described, but on a bigger scale as she now stood on all fours, teeth bared and ears laid flat against her head. Then she saw that Lily had got stuck with the whole of her top half in doe form with human legs.

"Ow.! Came the cry from Sirius, who must have fallen out of the fireplace. "What was that for James?"

"I didn't do anything." James protested. "You're just clumsy. That's not a wolf." He noted suddenly, looking over at Hermione. Sirius looked over and his jaw dropped. Before him stood a huge, tan coloured German Shepherd.

"You're a dog." He said in awe. "Just like me!" Hermione whined. James looked over at Lily and had to smother a laugh. He nudged Sirius who let out a bark of laughter.

"Well that's not something you see every day. Half human half doe. James, you want to transfigure Lily back."

"Hang on, let's see if she can do it herself." James suggested.

"Ok. Hermione, you need to focus on becoming human." She barked at him. "Calm down. I know it's disorientating the first time, but keep calm. If you can't do it, I can transfigure you back. We won't leave you stuck." He tried to reassure her. It took a few minutes, but finally Hermione managed to change back to human. She lay on the floor, exhausted.

"I can't believe how much energy that takes." She gasped.

"It get's easier the more you do it." Sirius assured her. "It's only the first few times that it tires you out."

"Now, what did you want after scaring the wits off both of us?" Hermione asked, trying to look angry.

"We wanted to come and get you for the Order meeting. We didn't know if you were keeping track of the time." He explained. They looked back over at James and Lily, who was slowly transforming herself back to human. It took a lot longer going back to human, but she got there eventually. After giving them a few minutes to rest, they all flooed back to the Potter's house. It was decided that Lily would stay behind with Harry again while everyone else went off to the meeting.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Locket.

At McKinnon Manor, everyone took their places around the long table. As Before, Dumbledore called the meeting to order and let everyone know about the capture of Lucius Malfoy. There was some cheering at this news, particularly from the Prewett twins, although they already knew. Moody had to shoot sparks out of his wand to get them to quiet down, but they winked over at Sirius and James who grinned back.

"I'm afraid I must give you all some bad news. There was an attack last night on the Bones family. Edgar is grievously injured but his sister, Amelia, and his daughter escaped unharmed." Dumbledore told them all gravely. "He is currently in St Mungo's." There were some gasps around the table.

"Why the Bones'?" Asked Caradoc, who was Edgar Bones' best friend.

"It seems that Edgar had managed to get enough support to defeat the proposed legislation against werewolves. The announcement will be made tomorrow about it." Kingsley said.

"I think Dolohov and Rookwood were both at the vote." Gideon offered.

"It's nothing to do with them." Moody frowned. "Only the member of the Magical Law Enforcement should have been voting or privy to that information. Edgar only informed me yesterday afternoon."

"I don't know, I just saw both of them on that floor yesterday morning when they vote should have been taking place." Gideon shrugged. "If they knew and reported it to Voldemort then he obviously tried to take revenge."

"It is good news that it has been defeated, but it comes at a cost." Dumbledore reminded them all.

"On the other hand. I've made no headway on the use of unforgivable curses by Aurors. That will be going ahead, coming into effect next week." Moody growled.

"The lengths Crouch will go to." Exclaimed Sirius.

"Ridiculous!" Fabian called out.

"Quiet. Now, have either of you found anything about the Lestranges?" Dumbledore asked the twins.

"No. Bellatrix is proving quite difficult to follow. Her husband doesn't really get up to much. Both were present at the attack on Hogsmeade. We know she is the leader of most of the muggle killings." Fabian reported.

"The make regular visits to Malfoy Manor which may be where the headquarters are." Gideon added.

"She may also just be visiting Cissy." Sirius tossed in. "Those two were always the closest of the siblings."

"Travers was also making regular visits. However, now that Lucius Malfoy is in custody they may change their meeting place." Benjy Fenwick added.

"Well Benjy, you, Caradoc, Marlene and Emmaline will need to alternate watches around Malfoy Manor. Use the invisibility cloak and disillusionment charms." They all nodded. "Very well, does anyone have anything to add?" Everyone shook their heads. "Next meeting will be a week on monday at 7pm." He informed them all.

Once dismissed, the Order began shuffling out of the room in ones and twos. Sirius held back Dumbledore and McGonagall to inform them that he had the erumpent horn material. It had been delivered ahead of schedule and so it was ready to try.

"Miss Lupin, I ask that you and Mr Potter take charge of finding the Diadem as you are best positioned to know where it is." McGonagall asked the pair.

"As it is the summer holidays, we shall go to HOgwarts on Monday, if that's ok with James?" Hermione said, looking over at him.

"I'll check with Lily and let you know Professor." James grinned. McGonagall and Dumbledore nodded.

"Remus, I must ask you to undertake your task tomorrow." Dumbledore asked, looking grim.

"No! Can't Moony leave on Monday too? It's Harry's first birthday tomorrow." Sirius pointed out. Dumbledore paused for a few seconds and then nodded his agreement.

"Thank you Professor." Remus smiled slightly.

"We shall reconvene at Hogwarts on Monday evening to destroy the diadem then." Dumbledore decided, and with that they were all dismissed.

"Right, Sirius, you go and meet Regulus, Remus, Hermione and I will go and catch Lily up." James suggested. They all nodded and left McKinnon Manor after a quick chat to Marlene. Sirius apparated to the Shrieking Shack and saw his brother already standing there, arms folded.

"Sirius." He nodded curtly.

"Reg. What's happened?" Sirius got straight to the point.

"Kreacher has come back from his assignment with Voldemort. I know where a Horcrux is. I'm going to get it tonight. I thought you should know in case I don't come back." The calm way Regulus spoke of his death worried Sirius.

"Of course you'll come back. I'm going with you to make sure."

"No you're not." Regulus snapped.

"Of course I am. You gotta accept I'm going to help you Regulus Arcturus Black." He replied in his sternest tone. Regulus stared at him, not used to such a serious tone from his older brother. They glared at each other for a few minutes until Regulus looked away.

"Fine. You can come with me. Nobody else. Too many people will ruin everything."

"What can we expect?" Sirius asked.

"Kreacher said it's in a cave. I don't know the exact location, but he will apparate us both there. You have to give the wall some blood to open it and then sail across a lake full of Inferi to a small island. There is a stone basin with a potion in it. Voldemort forced Kreacher to drink it and then put the locket in. If you touch the water the Inferi will awaken. Kreacher only got away because he is a House Elf. I don't think usual apparition will work there."

"Ok. I will meet you and Kreacher here. What time?"

"8pm. And meet us at home." Regulus told him.

"Home? That place was never my home." Sirius spat.

"If you aren't there at 8pm sharp, I will be going without you, _brother_." Regulus retorted, spitting out the last word.

"Ok. I'm sorry. We need to get along if we are going to be successful." Sirius tried to keep the peace. He needed his brother. Regulus nodded stiffly and disapparated. Sirius sighed and then follow suit, appearing outside the Potter's house. He walked through the front door and collapsed onto the sofa. Hermione came and sat beside him.

"What happened."

"Reg has found the locket." He told her, his voice slightly hoarse.

"That's great." James exclaimed coming in from the kitchen with Harry. "Is he going to give it to you?"

"We are going to retrieve it tonight. Sounds like it's still in exactly the same location as it was in your time." Sirius addressed Hermione.

"Just the two of you?" She asked, wide-eyed.

"And Kreacher." Sirius muttered.

"Oh please be careful." Hermione cried, taking his hand.

"I always am." Remus snorted with amusement. "Something funny Moony?" Sirius asked.

"Just you thinking you're careful."

"I am!" Sirius protested.

"Says the boy who fell down two flights of stairs because he tripped over his robes and knocked into a suit of armour." James grinned. Sirius blushed

"That was one time. And I'm positive one of your tripped me up."

"None of us were anywhere near you." James denied.

"Trip jinx." Sirius replied. Remus grinned guiltily. Sirius noticed. "You did, didn't you!" He pointed his finger at Remus dramatically. James looked over at him with a wide grin.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Remus denied. The three continued to bicker until Lily came in with lunch. After eating, they all discussed plans for destroying the horcruxes. They played some games once Harry started crying until it was time for him to go to bed. Talk then turned to Harry's party. As they were under protective enchantments, only the Marauders, Hermione and Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall would be coming.

"He's only one Lily. He won't be bothered by not having many visitors." James assured his upset wife.

"I know." She sniffled. "But hearing how he grew up, I almost want to make up for it, even if our Harry didn't go through it." She explained. James nodded his head, knowing exactly what she meant.

"Well I'd best be off." Sirius announced at a quarter to 8.

"Be very careful. Remember, Inferi hate warmth and light. If you accidently end up waking them use fire to get rid of them." Hermione told him.

"I know 'Mione. I took NEWT Defence." Sirius reminded her gently, amused but touched by her nagging.

"See you tomorrow." James clapped him on the back. "You get all the fun." Sirius grinned back at his best friend and pulled him into a tight hug. Then he did the same with Remus. Winking at Lily he strode to the front door. He kissed Hermione softly and hugged her before leaving the premises so he could apparate.

Sirius gazed upon the front door of number 12 Grimmauld Place. His most hated location. He had not set foot in this house since he was sixteen and ran away to the Potter's and really had no desire to do so again. It held so many bad memories for him. Resignedly, he opened the door was walked down the dark, damp corridor to the stairs. He could hear Kreacher and Regulus in the kitchen and took a deep breath before going in.

"The blood traitor has returned. Befouling the halls of my wonderful mistress."

"Good evening to you to Kreacher." Sirius rolled his eyes at the elf's behaviour. "Hi Reg."

"Sirius." Regulus acknowledged. "Let's get going then." Kreacher took hold of the brothers and disapparated. Sirius was surprised, half expecting Kreacher to leave him behind out of spite.

They had landed on a small island that was emitting a greenish light. Beyond the island was a mass of black water, small waves were lapping at the edges. In the middle of the island was a stone basin on a pedestal.

"Well done Kreacher." Regulus praised.

"Anything for master." Kreacher beamed. Sirius was tempted to gag. The brothers moved towards the basin, both with wands drawn. It was filled with a clear liquid, and at the bottom lay a large, gold locket with an ornate 'S' carved onto the front. Regulus reached forwards, hand outstretched. Before Sirius could stop him his hand stopped of its own accord. They tried to banish the barrier, break it, move it but nothing worked. Sirius knew they would have to drink the potion, but wanted to avoid the possibility as long as possible.

Soon, they both accepted the inevitable. Looking at each other they had a silent conversation on who would drink the potion.

"I will." Regulus said.

"Why can't Kreacher do it?" Sirius asked with contempt.

"Because if anything goes wrong he is our ticket out of here. I'd rather not have him out of his mind as he was before. He only got out last time because I gave him a direct order beforehand."

"So do that now."

"I'd rather have our way out of here fully functioning." Regulus retorted. "Look, if anything happens to me, it won't really matter. Once I've been discovered, Voldemort will kill me anyway. I'd rather die here than at his hands. He will draw it out as punishment for desertion."

"And I'd rather you didn't die at all." Sirius replied calmly. "But we have diverted. I'll drink it."

"No Sirius. That's final. I will ask Kreacher to take you home." Regulus threatened. Sirius finally gave in and nodded his head. Regulus conjured a goblet and lowered it into the basin. Scooping up a goblet full, he raised it to his lips and drank it all in one gulp. Nothing happened at first so he drank another quickly. As he tipped the third goblet down his throat, Regulus dropped to his knees suddenly.

"No. No. Stop. Please stop." He muttered, his hands clutching his head as the goblet dropped from his grasp. Sirius snatched it up before it hit the water and then knelt down beside his brother.

"What is it Reg? What's happening?"

"Don't go! Sirius don't leave me." He cried out.

"I'm not going anywhere Reg." Sirius replied, bewildered.

"Master must finish drinking the potion." Kreacher mumbled sadly, pushing another mouthful towards Regulus.

"Make it stop. No. You can't leave." Regulus was moaning and wrapped his arms around himself.

"Come on Reg. Have another drink." Sirius urged, filling the goblet again.

"NO. Anything but that. Please." He begged, but Sirius regretfully made him drink another. As the basin slowly began to empty, Regulus' moaning and whimpering got louder. Sirius was finding it harder and harder to keep forcing his brother to drink. He had one arm wrapped around Regulus' shoulders, trying to convince him that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Don't make me. Don't make me." Regulus pleaded as Sirius forced yet another mouthful down his throat.

"This is the last one." Kreacher informed Sirius.

"Last one Reg. You can do it. Come on. One more and it will all be over." He tipped the final goblet full into Regulus' mouth and waited. Kreacher snatched up the locket. "Give that to me." Sirius ordered. Kreacher reluctantly obeyed and Sirius pocketed it.

"Water." Regulus croaked, seemingly coming to his senses. "Need water."

"Ok Reg." Sirius tried to conjure some, but as it disappeared he remembered what Hermione had said about Harry's visit here. He tried conjuring it directly into Regulus' mouth but it just evaporated in mid air.

"Dammit. Ok Kreacher, we need to get out of here." Sirius called the elf. But as he turned, Regulus slipped from his grasp and lunged at the lake, goblet in hand. "NO!" Sirius roared trying to catch Regulus, but he was too late. His brother had dipped the goblet in the lake and was drinking greedily from the cup. As he reached down for a second mouthful, a slimy, greyish hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. Regulus cried out and Sirius was beside him in a flash.

"Incendio!" He cried shooting flames at the creature that had risen from the depths. It gave an unearthly shriek and vanished back into the water. Sirius hoisted Regulus back up onto the middle of the platform, calling for Kreacher. Kreacher took a hold of his sleeve but another Inferi had grabbed Regulus.

"Now Kreacher."

"Can't while that thing holds Master." Kreacher lamented. "Or we will take the nasty thing with us." Sirius cursed loudly and shot flames at the rising monsters. They fell back but more kept coming and his spells weren't powerful enough to get rid of enough of them. Kreacher was trying to help and look for an opening to disapparate. Once again he felt Regulus being pulled from his grasp.

"Sirius, let me go. Kreacher get him out of here!" Regulus ordered in a weak voice.

"I'm not letting you go. I didn't come this far to lose you now little brother." Sirius told him through gritted teeth, while shooting flames in a wide circle around them. It worked. The flames held and the Inferi could not get through. Kreacher took hold of Sirius' robe and disapparated.

Moments later they appeared, panting and gasping on the kitchen floor of Grimmauld Place. Regulus immediately collapsed and Sirius caught him before he hit the floor. Levitating him, Sirius carried his brother up to his room and left him on his own bed.

"You ok?" He asked.

"Very tired." Regulus croaked.

"Reg, when you drank that potion, you started blabbering about me leaving. What did it do?" Sirius asked quietly. Regulus was quiet for a minute.

"You, when you ran away. I could hear your screams from my room. I ran downstairs but mum just told me you had been mouthing off at them. Next thing I know, you came barrelling out of the living room covered in blood and ran upstairs. Even though we weren't speaking I wanted to check on you, but then you came back with your trunk and walked out the door. We weren't close before that and I resented you. But I truly lost my big brother that day." Regulus replied in an equally quiet voice. Sirius didn't know what to say. Instead, he pulled his brother into a huge hug.

"I'm sorry for being a crappy brother." Sirius muttered.

"I understand better now why you ran away." Regulus allowed. "Did you get the locket?" He asked, uncomfortable with how emotional the atmosphere was.

"Yes. I will destroy it as soon as possible."

"Why not now?" Because it will probably get messy. And I would hate to ruin your room under pain of death." Sirius teased.

"True." Regulus gave a small grin in return.

"You get some rest. I've got to get back but I will let you know once it's gone." Sirius told him. Regulus nodded as his eyelids drooped, too tired to argue. Sirius squeezed his shoulder and left the room.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The party

Sirius arrived back at the Potter's house, covered in grime but looking healthy enough. The second he opened the door his vision was obscured by bushy brown hair and a pair of arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Instinctively he gripped the body that had slammed into his and nuzzled into Hermione's neck.

"You're alive!"

"No need to sound quite so shocked." Sirius replied, looking hurt. Hermione looked a little flustered and then smacked his arm when she saw his teasing grin.

"Did you get it?" James asked, coming into the room. Sirius nodded and held up the locket for everyone to see.

"Put it away, somewhere Harry can't get it and we will get rid of it with the other one on Monday." Hermione suggested.

"Why don't I keep it at the flat?" Sirius asked.

"It's not well protected from Death Eaters there. If by some means Voldemort found out he could easily get in." Lily reminded him. "I will just magically lock whatever room we put it in."

"You have the Erumpent horn fluid don't you?" Hermione asked. Sirius nodded. "Good. So if you bring that here over the weekend we can keep the lot together. James and I can take it to Hogwarts on Monday."

"I wish I could come." Sirius whined.

"You have to work." James reminded him with a smug grin.

"No fair. I don't wanna be an adult." Sirius complained. Lily and Hermione rolled their eyes at him. Lily made them all some food for lunch and they tried to decide what to do next. Hermione and Lily were deep in discussion about the birthday plans for the next day with Lily determined to throw Harry the best birthday party possible even if he himself wouldn't remember it. Sirius and James wanted to make the most of Remus still being around so decided to go out.

"Lils, we are going to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink. Farewell party for Remus." James told her.

"Ok, love. Please be careful." Lily smiled and kissed his cheek goodbye.

"Have fun. Don't do anything too reckless. Remus, make sure you keep them under control." Hermione grinned as she hugged Sirius.

"I couldn't even do that when I was supposed to have power over them as a prefect. Let alone now." Remus chuckled. "But I promise to try." The three of them left the house and disapparated. Lily and Hermione spent the afternoon cooking cakes for the next day and chatting about their respective school days. Lily told her about all the times James had failed to ask her out and Hermione told of all the smaller details that she had skipped over during the main retelling. She also gave a much more detailed description of what Harry was like on a day to day basis when his life wasn't at stake.

"Nothing like his father then." Lily giggled as Hermione recounted Harry asking Cho to the ball again.

"Apparently not." Hermione agreed with a laugh. Hermione really enjoyed spending some girl time with Lily. In her time Ginny had been the only girl she was even remotely close to. The girls in her dormitory were mostly annoying and excluded her. They were quite cruel even when Lavender had started dating Ron. Even then, Ginny had been quite awestruck on Harry and therefore rather shy around his friends for a while but by her fourth year was quite open with Hermione. Lily was a very different person but just as fiercely protective as Ginny.

Lily was very pleased to have another girl around the house. She loved James dearly and was very fond of Remus. Even Sirius was growing on her but there were some things you could only discuss with another girl. Having three boys around plus a baby was very hard work. Hermione's arrival in their lives had been a drastic change, but clearly for the better. Sirius was practically unrecognisable around her and she had brought Remus out of his shell slightly.

Meanwhile, the boys were sat in the Leaky Cauldron laughing as they sipped Firewhiskey and reminiscent about the pranks they played in school. Some memories bought a slightly bitter taste to their mouths as they remembered the part Peter had played, but for the most part they had a wonderful time.

"So, you and Hermione huh?" James winked over at Sirius. With everything that had happened they hadn't really discussed all the changes in their life.

"Yeah. Me and 'Mione." Sirius replied with a dreamy look on his face.

"I never though I'd see the day Padfoot was this whipped." Remus chortled happily.

"Shut it Moony. I am not whipped." Sirius protested weakly. Both his friends just gave him smug grins with a raised eyebrow and he conceded that he was a little bit whipped.

"You reckon we should get him a collar and leash so Hermione can take him for walks?" James suggested with a snigger.

"She doesn't need a leash, just call his name and he'll come running like a well trained dog." Remus laughed.

"Very funny." Sirius grumbled.

"I know, she got him better trained in 7 days than we did in seven years." James pouted. "And we tried to persuade him with food."

"Yeah but we can't threaten him with no sex." Remus reminded James with a grin.

"That's true. No can Hermione yet though, they haven't done it." James shot back.

"How do you know? Are you stalking me or just checking up on my sex life?" Sirius asked, eyebrows raised.

"Naa. But it's you Padfoot. If you'd done it you would be strutting round the house like nobody's business. The whole of Gryffindor tower knew when you got a new conquest." James informed his friend.

"I'm amazed by you Sirius. If I didn't know better, I'd say you've gone soft." Remus snickered.

"Well yes, but 'Mione is different."

"Of course. That doesn't mean we can give you shit about it." James laughed, clapping Sirius on the back before going to buy another round of Firewhiskey. They spent the rest of the evening laughing and chatting before heading back to the Potter's house. When they got back, they found Hermione and Lily sat on the couch looking at pictures of the three boys and Lily when they were at Hogwarts. They were currently giggling at a picture of James stuck to the ceiling of Gryffindor Tower after asking Lily out so often she cursed him up there in fourth year. The five of them looked at a couple more pictures and gave Hermione the background behind them. One was of Sirius crying as he sported bright green and silver hair given to him by Remus after waking him up too early after a full moon.

"It's time we get home." Remus finally spoke up, dragging Sirius up with him. Sirius gave Hermione a quick hug and chaste kiss before jumping into the fireplace after Remus. Hermione bid the couple goodnight, leaving them to have some alone time they hadn't had for a while.

Harry's first birthday dawned bright and sunny. The residence of the Potter's cottage were awoken by the sounds of a baby crying. James got up to feed Harry and by the time that was done Lily was making breakfast for the adults. Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore were arriving around lunchtime and they were going to wait until they arrived to do presents. Hermione was relieved to hear this. She wanted to ask Sirius to accompany her to Diagon Alley to get a present for Harry. With all the Horcrux hunting and becoming an animagus, she had completely forgotten to get him anything. Their only trip shopping had been cut short by Death Eaters.

Sirius and Remus arrived just in time for breakfast and Sirius agreed to accompany Hermione shopping. They told Lily and James they just wanted some alone time as a couple, which was also true. After leaving the cottage, they strolled through Diagon Alley hand in hand. Hermione wasn't sure what to get Harry for his first birthday. Clearly her usual presents were not suitable for a one year old and she had never had any siblings to buy for. As they wandered around Sirius offered his opinion on present ideas. She found a couple of children's books with wizarding style fairytales in. One for his parents to read and one intended for when Harry started reading himself. She also found a child's toy snitch. It could fly around at a low level, no more than a few feet off the ground, but Sirius thought it was a great idea. It lined up perfectly with what he had gotten Harry.

They had a snack and happily spent a couple of hours just the two of them. Sirius suggested they go for a walk in a less crowded area. Hermione agreed so they apparated to a spot that she didn't know. He gave her a wicked smile and then took her hand, leading her down a path through some trees. Then Sirius put his hands over her eyes so she couldn't see and gently led her forwards. After a couple of minutes he took his hands away and Hermione gasped. They were in a little clearing in some woods. A small river ran through to one side and sunlight filtered down through the trees making patterns of shadows along the edge of the clearing.

"I found this spot a couple of years ago. I actually got lost and ended up here in the middle of the night, pretty drunk. But I managed to find my way back a few days later and often come here just to think." Sirius explained, leading her to a patch of grass and flopping down in an elegant sprawl.

"It's beautiful."

"It's nice. But I can't call anything beautiful when you are here too. Everything else pales in comparison." Hermione blushed slightly, sitting down next to him and laying her head in his lap.

"I felt everything had been moving a bit quickly between us and we never really have any time together, just us. I haven't even taken you on a proper date yet." Sirius sighed as he unconsciously played with her hair. "All the talking we've done and I don't even know your favourite colour."

"It's green." Hermione smiled.

"Oh yuck, Of all the colours." Sirius covered his eyes with his free hand dramatically. Hermione laughed and gently swatted his arm. "Mine is red. The best colour." Sirius puffed out his chest and Hermione rolled her eyes at him but she was grinning.

They stayed at chatted for around half an hour before they knew it was time to head back for the party. Lily would kill them if they were late and Harry wouldn't even remember it! Sirius stood and helped Hermione up before disapparating back to Godric's Hollow. They arrived to find James putting up decorations while trying to look after a squealing Harry and Lily running around the kitchen like a mad woman. Sirius and Remus looked after Harry which left James free. Hermione went to help Lily in the kitchen. Everything was perfect when they two Professor's came through the fireplace. Lily and Hermione served the food which everyone dug into with gusto.

"Time for presents!" James cried out happily.

"You realise they are for Harry?" Lily raised an eyebrow at him in amusement.

"Of course. But he's too young to show proper enthusiasm, so someone has to." James grinned back lovingly at his wife. They all sat in the front room, with Lily and James holding Harry on the loveseat. Being overenthusiastic, Sirius thrust his present at his godson eagerly.

"Mine first! Mine first!"

"Right, put that to the back, James." Lily grinned.

"Hey!" Sirius pouted. James rolled his eyes at his best friend and turned his attention to his son, who was already trying to rip the paper off with his pudgy hands. James began helping and a few seconds later Lily was glaring at Sirius.

"Sirius Black, he is one year old. He is not old enough to be flying at all."

"He'll be fine Lils. Harry is a natural." Everyone looked over and saw James holding a toy broomstick and grinning hugely.

"Thanks uncle Padfoot. Say thank you Harry."

"'Ank 'oo 'Adfoo'." Harry gurgled.

"No worries, Pup." Sirius smiled warmly. Then he handed over Hermione's presents saying it made sense to open those next. When he saw the toy snitch, James whooped gleefully while LIly gave Hermione a look that clear said 'You traitor'. To which Hermione grinned sheepishly. She looked much happier about the two books and handed Harry over to give Hermione a hug. One Harry had been returned to his parents. Dumbledore handed over his present which was a stuffed toy Phoenix that looked exactly like Fawkes. Harry adored it and cried when anyone tried to take it away from him. McGonagall had gotten him books similar to the ones Hermione had got. Remus gave him some more fake wands that Harry loved along with a new mobile that hung over hit cot and circled while playing music to help him sleep. It hand Quidditch balls hanging down so he could try to catch them while lying down.

"Thank you all so much." Lily smiled around at all their friends. It was a shame it had to be such a small party, but she was endlessly glad that all her really closest friends could make it.

A little while later, Harry started yawning so James went to put him to bed while to Professors headed back to Hogwarts. The rest of the adults stayed up a little chatting and saying farewell to Remus who would be leaving the next day. He hugged everyone as it was time to bid them goodnight, promising to be back as soon as possible. Lily and Hermione both gave him extra tight hugs and wished him the best.

(A/N I can't begin to say how sorry I am for the lack of updates. R/L got really busy and I lost a lot of enthusiasm for this story...but never fear, I have promised to finish it and I do intend to. Updates will now be every Monday. This was just a fluffy chapter before the action gets turned up a notch next time. R&R)


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Two Horcruxes Down

Monday morning dawned warm and sunny but Remus awoke with a ball of dread sitting in his stomach. He knew that this mission was important but until now it seemed like a far off event that loomed like a monster on the horizon. But now it was the day he had to go and it all seemed far more real. Grudgingly he got up and chose his baggiest and most worn out clothes. If he was going to make any friends with the werewolves it wouldn't do to turn up in best dress and rub it in that he had been living much better conditions. Sirius would already be at work for which Remus was grateful. They had all done goodbyes to death the previous night and he had no desire to go through that again. Leaving his friends was one of the hardest things he had done in his life.

He got himself dressed and ate a large breakfast. At 9am precisely Dumbledore came through the fireplace.

"Good morning Remus."

"Morning Professor." He replied, not quite willing to say 'good morning'. Remus didn't see any reason that the morning was particularly good.

"I have the exact location you need to apparate to. It is a mile south from the werewolves camp. The group has around ten members so please be careful."

"Yes sir."

"And good luck." Dumbledore handed over the piece of parchment and then with one last handshake he disappeared back into the fireplace. Remus looked down at the parchment with a sigh. There was very little he needed to pack and no valid reason to delay so Remus grabbed his small bag that he placed inside his robes and left the apartment. He walked down the street to an empty park and disapparated.

He appeared in the middle of a forest. Sunlight filtered down through the trees making patches of shadows on the forest floor and filling the air with a greenish light as it came through the leaves. A cool breeze blew, rustling the leaves all around him. Remus began to head north reluctantly. About 20 minutes later he was able to see a clearing coming up. He knew that is where he would find the other werewolves. He stopped and took a second to take a deep breath to steady himself before pushing onwards. As he stepped into the clearing three tall men who had been sitting around an empty fire pit looked up snarling.

"You have no business here stranger." One of them spoke in a gruff voice.

"I have been cast out." Remus replied trying to add a note of bitterness to his voice. "I am shunned by wizarding society." He said the word 'wizarding' with a sneer.

"Haven't we all." Another spoke up. He was watching Remus with more curiosity and less hostility than his other two companions. "You might as well take a seat, boy." He motioned to another tree stump across from himself.

"You really wanna let some stranger join us?" The first man asked incredulously.

"What harm can he do. But a single man cannot do anything to us." The second shrugged.

"He won't last two minutes. Look at him. Barely any scratches. He has clearly had an easy life so far as a wolf." He looked back to Remus and pulled up his sleeve to reveal thick scratches all the way down his arm. He had much more scar than skin. His neck was the same and even his face was much more marred than Remus'. Remus was careful not to show any fear and simply raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well at least he doesn't run screaming like a little girl." The man sniggered. "Just keep to yourself and we will get on fine." With that he stood up and stomped off. The third man, who had so far been silent, followed him. The remaining man stood and shook Remus' hand.

"I'm Zayrin. I would say welcome to our humble abode but you aren't really welcome." He offered a small grin.

"John, and I figured as much." Remus replied with a returning grin.

"I guess you just pick a spot on the floor and rough it. I wouldn't expect to make many friends round here." Zayrin then got up and headed towards the main group with Remus.

James Potter rolled out of bed grudgingly. His wife was shaking him away roughly and yelling his name loudly in his ear. His eyes flickered open and Lily was glaring at him.

"About time too." She snapped.

"What?" James mumbled sleepily.

"Hermione has been waiting to go to Hogwarts for the past two hours sleepy head." Lily informed him.

"What?" James leapt out of bed like he had been electrocuted. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

"Because I was out and she is too nice." Lily rolled her eyes. James grinned.

"I knew I liked her." He said smugly. Lily whacked him with a pillow. James got himself dressed and went downstairs to find Hermione playing with Harry. He grabbed the toy broomstick Sirius had given Harry and picked up his son.

"Morning James." Hermione smiled.

"Good Morning 'Mione." James grinned and he placed Harry on the broomstick and then grabbed the toy snitch.

"James Potter don't you dare!" Lily cried as she came in just as James let the broom go. Harry zoomed around the living room giggling like crazy.

"I've put spells on the broom so he can't fall off Lil." James reassured her. She didn't seem to appeased and it got worse when Harry careened into a vase on the table. None of them reacted quickly enough to prevent it falling to the floor. Completely oblivious, Harry, kept guiding the broom around the edges of the room narrowly missing Hermione's leg and crashing into the sofa.

"James Charlus Potter you get him off that broomstick right now. He can use it outside." Lily scowled. James grinned sheepishly at his wife before picking up his son and realising it was raining. While Lily went into the kitchen, James quickly put away anything breakable in the front room and Hermione cleared up the vase. James then let Harry loose again releasing the snitch at the same time. Harry's eyes followed the toy but he didn't have the hang of steering quite yet and couldn't turn very well. This meant he kept bouncing off the walls but the spells on the toy kept him from hurting himself and the spells James had cast stopped him damaging the wall. Finally Harry was able to get near enough to try and grab the snitch but he missed and fell to one side. Protective spells stopped him actually falling so the broom just span round and round until James grabbed him and corrected him. By the smell in the kitchen he knew Lily was done cooking so he grabbed his son and put the broomstick and snitch away.

"Are we going to have breakfast and then head straight to Hogwarts?" James asked. Hermione nodded just as Lily called them in. Hermione picked up Harry and they marched into the kitchen.

"When are you two heading off?" Lily asked.

"Straight after breakfast. We have to find the Diadem and then destroy it along with the locket." Hermione answered quickly.

"Well, good luck." Lily smiled but it didn't quite cover the worry in her eyes.

"James can you go and get the locket please?" Hermione asked. He did as he was asked and returned just as Hermione finished her toast and jam. She picked up the material Sirius had left them before heading off to work and together they said goodbye to Lily and made their way out the door. They had decided to apparate to Hogsmeade and walk to the castle from there. It was a hot day with the sun shining brightly so they didn't bother taking cloaks. She and James chatted the whole way. Hermione recounted how, after the Gilderoy Lockhart pixie incident got spread around the school, the Weasley twins had let some more loose in his office. In return James told her some of the pranks the Marauders had played such as bewitching all the potion ingredients to dance away every time Slughorn tried to get one for a demonstration.

Soon enough they arrived at the gates which opened for them as they approached. They saw McGonagall waiting for them. She explained that Lily had floo called ahead to inform Dumbledore to expect them.

"Will you require any help?" She asked the duo.

"No. I think the less people around for the horcrux to try and attack when we destroy it, the better." Hermione said. The stern professor nodded and they walked in silence up to the castle. Once up the marble staircase they parted, McGonagall heading for her office and the other two taking a shortcut up to the room of requirement. It didn't take long before they approached a very familiar blank stretch of wall. Hermione froze. A little way down the corridor was where Fred had died. She could even see the ghost of his last laugh on his face swimming in front of her eyes.

"'Mione, you alright?" James asked her, getting worried about her freeze up. She shook herself.

"Yes, I'm fine James. Just some memories, that's all." She replied. Hermione remembered what Harry had told her the phrase was and soon enough they were inside. It was exactly as she remembered before it had been destroyed by fiendfyre.

"Shall we split up?" James asked. Hermione shook her head and went in the direction she remembered. It took them the best part of twenty minutes to find it, but eventually Hermione recognised the stone bust and sure enough, sat on top, was the diadem. "So, what now?" James asked quietly.

"I'm not sure. We put them together and throw the erumpent horn material on them?" Hermione suggested.

"Better plan than none." James shrugged. Hermione quickly wished for two broomsticks and less than a second later, spotter a bunch in a pile to her left. She moved over and grabbed a couple, handing one to James. He eyes her cautiously.

"This stuff is very explosive. I'm sure some stuff in here is flammable and I would rather have a quick escape route." She explained. He nodded, impressed by her forethought. Hermione was just vividly remembering the last time she was in this room. She carefully put the locket next to the diadem in the middle of the floor.

"What if this doesn't work?"

"Bit late for that." Hermione replied grimly. She mounted the broom despite her hatred for them.

"You want to ride with me?" James asked, spotting her hesitation. She paused and then nodded, biting her lip nervously. He pulled her up beside him and then flew up and over the horcruxes. Taking a deep breath, Hermione handed James one of the small bottles of mixture. Wordlessly he took it and poured it all on top of the horcruxes.

Not even James' quidditch reflexes could prepare him for the explosion that took place. The second the liquid touched the horcruxes the world turned upside down. A sound like a gunshot rang through the room and flames jumped up as shards of metal were thrown around. The broomstick was thrown back in the wave of energy coming from the two pieces of Voldemort's soul. As it was so unexpected the broom was careening out of control and only Hermione's vice like grip on James' waist kept her from falling off. James was desperately trying to get back control but the waves of energy kept coming and even through all the noise he thought he could hear a screaming coming from the centre of the storm.

He couldn't bring the broom back fully under his control, but James managed to make a safe landing not far from the door. They glanced back and saw the objects being hurled around as if in a hurricane, but it was all starting to die down. As they watched everything flew lower and lower until it all landed back on the ground as if nothing had ever happened. They cautiously made their way back to where it had all happened. Lying on the floor were the remains on the locket, which lay open and blackened, and the diadem, which was broken clean in two and oozing a black substance that looked horribly like blood. It took a second to sink in but then they jumped for joy and hugged each other tightly.

"It's done." Hermione smiled in relief.

"Yes, it is." James beamed. "Two horcruxes down. May the battle now begin."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: First Date

James and Hermione hugged each other for a few minutes, the tension and fear of the past few hours was seeping away slowly. They broke apart and made to collect the broken horcruxes that needed to be given to Professor Dumbledore. Hopefully in this time Voldemort didn't feel the destruction of his horcruxes. Hermione scooped up both items and together they made their way out of the room and towards the headmaster's office. Professor McGonagall was waiting in there with Dumbledore and Flitwick.

"It is done Professor." James informed them as Hermione put the objects on the desk. The teachers all bent over them to examine the destroyed remains. All them were morbidly fascinated by the objects before them. Hermione and James bade goodbye and took their leave. They used the fireplace in Dumbledore's office to get back to the Potter's cottage. Hermione managed to keep her footing as she stumbled out of the fireplace and only just got out of the way before James came tumbling out, landing sprawled out on the floor much to Harry's delight. He toddled over to James just as Lily came from the kitchen to see the source of the disturbance.

"You'd have thought you'd have the hang of that by now, love." Lily giggled.

"Stupid floo powder." James grumbled as he stood up, picking Harry up and cooing at him.

"Yes dear, it's the floo powders fault." Lily replied, making no effort to smother her grin. "How did it go?" She asked.

"It's done. They are both destroyed." Hermione smiled.

"Thank goodness."

"The problem is, they were the easy ones." Hermione sighed.

"Easy? Regulus nearly lost his life." James raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, but that's still easier than breaking all the enchantments around the old shack the ring is probably hidden in. And easier than breaking into Gringotts." She reminded him. James and Lily looked at each other anxiously, not liking the sound of either of the other options. "The ring will probably be the next easiest."

"Dumbledore can break those enchantments. He did it in your time didn't he?" Lily asked.

"Yes, and it cost him his life. Someone will need to go with him to stop him from putting on the ring." Hermione reminded them. "I've been thinking, it would be good to get the twins to introduce us to the Weasleys."

"That's a great idea. I want to talk to the younger twins." James grinned evilly.

"No!" Lily rolled her eyes. "They cause enough trouble without your help."

"No such thing as enough trouble." They spent the rest of the day talking and playing games with Harry. James let him loose with the broomstick and snitch again. He actually managed to catch it once although it was more luck as the snitch flew straight into his face. Just before they had dinner Sirius came in. He hugged Hermione and gave James a fist bump before slumping down in the chair next to Hermione. He asked how the mission had gone and James filled him in.

"So how was work?" Hermione asked him, taking his hand in hers.

"Long. It was just training and paperwork today. I don't have a patrol until Thursday." He sighed. "I just want to be out there doing something. We keep hearing about all the disappearances and killings but I'm stuck in the office." He frowned deeply.

"Someone has to hold down the fort." Hermione reassured him. "You will get your chance out there. It's not like the Prewett twins are always on missions is it?"

"Well, no. But they get to go on missions for the Order. I don't even get those."

"Hey, I've got to stay home pretty much all day. One mission out to Hogwarts in the past few weeks. I can't even go to work." James put in. "Quit whining." He added, punching Sirius' shoulder playfully.

"I don't want to." He replied, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to pout. But he kept grinning at the same time and the expression on his face as a mix of pouting and grinning was quite peculiar. Eventually he gave up, when the other three kept laughing at him, and joined in. "Anyway. 'Mione?"

"Yes?"

"We are going out tonight." He announced.

"We are?" She looked up at him in surprise.

"Yep. With all the Horcrux and 'save the world' business we haven't even been on our first date. So I'm taking you out tonight. I'll go get ready, and come back to pick you up in two hours."

"It takes you two hours to get ready?" She teased.

"That's quite quick for Padfoot." James grinned at his friend. Sirius ignored him and got up to leave. He pecked Hermione's cheek and strolled out the door. Hermione looked to Lily is despair.

"Help!" Was all she said.

"James, look after Harry." Lily ordered and then marched Hermione upstairs.

"Oh god, what do I wear? My hair is awful. He could have at least given me a clue what we are doing." Hermione ranted nervously.

"Hermione! Calm down. It's just Sirius." Lily put her hands on Hermione's shoulders looking startled at the other woman's uncharacteristic panic attack. "Have you not been on a date before?"

"Well." She blushed. "Not really. I went to the Yule Ball with Krum but I knew about that fact is was a dance from the start of term. I had months to pick an outfit and things like that. Ron and I never really had an official date. We were too busy with end of the war stuff."

"Ok. It's just a first date. Sirius probably has no expectations of you. Just go and enjoy yourself. He isn't that scary. Here, you can have a look through my closet to find something if you need an outfit." Lily gestured to the doorway on the other side of the room. "As he didn't tell you where you are going, I'd recommend something comfortable but stylish. It is the middle of summer so don't bother with a jacket. Besides, if you get cold I'm sure Sirius will warm you up." She winked. Hermione ignored that last comment and went into the closet. After a lot of indecision and trying on clothes she picked out a short sleeved, cerulean blue top that had a v-neck and a lace pattern at the bottom that hugged her form closely. To go with it a beige skirt that flowed out and reached just past her knees. She flatly refused high heels and ended up with a pair of blue flats. Lily helped her put on some light makeup, not enough to cover up her natural beauty but just to enhance her features.

With just a few minutes to go until Siris would arrive, Hermione made her way down the stairs. James wolf whistled when he saw her. She blushed a pretty shade of pink that helped complete the look. She anxiously fiddled with her hair, which she had put in a half down, half up style so that a few strands fell down framing her face. Just then, Sirius came through the door. Hermione couldn't look away. He wore a black button down shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to reveal his muscular forearms, and a blue tie that matched her shirt, although his top button was undone. With that he had dark blue jeans that hung off his hips and his hair was unruly as ever pushed back from his face, hanging just below his ears.

"Wow, 'Mione. You look beautiful." He breathed, spotting her as she stood up.

"You don't look so bad yourself." She smiled shyly.

"You ready to go?" He asked, holding out his arm for her.

"As I'll ever be." Hermione took his arm and they waved goodbye to the other two as they walked out of the house. "Where are we going?" She asked.

"It's a surprise." He winked, grinning like a kid in a candy store. Taking a tight hold of her, Sirius disapparated. They appeared by the edge of a huge lake. To one side stood a forest and on the other, a mountain range.

"Wow. Where is this?" She asked in awe.

"Somewhere in Wales. I found it while out on a mission for work. But, we aren't there yet." He gestured to two brooms by the lake. "I know you're not a fan of flying, so you can ride with me if you prefer."

"I would much prefer." She said quickly. He chuckled and then mounted the broom. It was a bit awkward in a skirt, but she managed to get on. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she closed her eyes as they took off. The only thing she was really aware of was Sirius' warm back pressed against her, her face buried in his hair.

"Don't close your eyes. Look." He pointed across the lake to the forest where the sun was setting, casting an orange glow all over the green leaves. Hermione opened her eyes and gasped at the sight. It was beautiful. The lake was shimmering in the sunlight. Then she made the mistake of looking down and gripped Sirius a little tighter as she saw how high up they were. He laughed, making his body vibrate against hers in an not entirely unpleasant way. After a few minutes, Hermione began to relax and thought that flying with Sirius wasn't quite so bad. Then she spotted a shape sitting over the lake. Frowning, she tried to see what it was, and as they got closer, she saw that it looked like a flying carpet. But it was stationary. Sirius then landed on it and it was actually just a picnic blanket that had been charmed to float a few feet above the water. The blanket was covered in rose petals and a picnic basket was on one side.

"Oh my gosh. This is absolutely amazing." She gasped, putting her hands over her mouth, as Sirius helped her off the broom. The blanket swayed slightly but did not sink as they put their full weight on it as she half expected. They sat down, leaning against each other slightly.

"It is very pretty. But with you here I can't use the word beautiful to describe anything else." He smiled. She smiled back and kissed his cheek. "You hungry?" Hermione nodded so he pulled the basket over to them. It contained all her favourites. Jam sandwiches, Tuna sandwiches, prawn cocktail crisps, Hershey's sugar free twizzlers and chocolate gateaux which was her secret weakness. It was one of the desserts she loved most but didn't have often because of her dentist parents.

"How did you know that's my favourite?"

"Lily told me." He confessed. Hermione was touched by the amount of thought he had put into the date. They ate for a while, chatting about themselves. For the first time in a long time, Hermione completely forgot about a war and Voldemort. She was totally focused on the man beside her. When they were done eating, Hermione lay down with her head in Sirius' lap as he played with her hair. They sat in silence for a bit just enjoying the peace and quiet. After a while, Sirius shifted so he was lying down beside her, with her head on his chest and his arm around her.

"Hermione, I want you to know exactly how much you mean to me. I've never really had a longstanding relationship. I used girls for sex and that was it. James' used to call me the school playboy for a reason. But you're just so different. You're brave, smart, witty, beautiful, pure hearted and protective. You make me want to do better so I can deserve an angel like you. I know I'm not perfect and I will probably make mistakes but I want you to know I'm in this for the long haul. I want us to be able to talk things out and get through any bumps together. With the war, it's going to stress people out and stress causes fights, just please, don't give up on me if I'm difficult. Or annoying. Or any other adjective you describe me with."

"Oh Sirius. I want all that too. I'm bound to get snappy and things too if I get stressed out. I'll make a deal with I won't give up on you if you don't give up on me."

"It's a deal." He grinned down at her. "And for the love of God, do NOT tell James about this. I will lose my reputation and never live it down." Hermione laughed at that.

"Oh, can't have everyone knowing Sirius Black is a softy." She teased.

"Definitely not." He confirmed. He sat up slightly and she looked at him. Sirius' eyes dropped to her lips and he moved his head closer slowly. Without waiting for him, she pressed her lips to his and they kissed gently and sweetly. He pulled back after a minute and searched her face. Then he placed a quick kiss to her forehead.

"Do you want to head back? We can stay as long as you like."

"Let's stay a while longer." Hermione smiled shyly.

"Awesome idea." Sirius lay back down, pulling Hermione back onto his chest. As the sun went down, the stars started to become visible so Sirius kept pointing out all the constellations. He knew she would know them from Astronomy lessons but it was still nice to spend time stargazing with his girlfriend. It was an hour later before they decide to head back to the Potter's cottage. He could have apparated from the blanket but Sirius rather liked having Hermione pressed up against him on the broom so they decided to ride back to the edge of the lake and then apparate from there. Once all the picnic stuff was packed up, Sirius hung it on the back of the broom and helped Hermione on. With both of them flying away, he removed the enchantments on the blanket and summoned it before it could hit the lake. Hermione charmed it to follow them so she didn't have to let go of Sirius to hold it.

Back at the edge of the lake, they apparated back and walked up to the cottage. Once inside, they greeted Lily and James. Sirius gave Hermione a chaste kiss and took his leave as he had work the following morning. Hermione also went to say goodnight but was ambushed for details by Lily and ended up spending a whole hour discussing the date before they both, finally, went to bed. Hermione quickly fell asleep replaying the date over and over in her head.

(A/N Happy Monday! Just a nice chapter of pure fluff 'coz I'm a romantic like that haha. Soo..if anyone has any plot ideas they would like to see please let me know.)


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Gaunt Cottage

The next evening, once Sirius was home from work, James, Lily, Hermione and Sirius found themselves discussing how to get a hold of the next horcrux. Hermione couldn't be sure exactly when the diary had been given to Lucius Malfoy. If Voldemort had not given it to him until right before he went after the Potter's then it would still be in Voldemort's possession and so the most impossible to get hold of. However, the Cup in Gringotts would also be incredibly difficult. She resolved to speak with Dumbledore about accompanying her to Gaunt Cottage. They would need to be quick about disposing of the ring. She hoped that she could resist the lure of the resurrection ring as there was nobody in this life Hermione knew to be brought back to life. Anyone that had died in that battle, were alive in this time and so the ring should have no power over her the way it did Dumbledore.

"You really think you will be ok just the two of you?" Sirius asked for the seventh time that night.

"Yes, Sirius. Dumbledore managed all by himself in my time except he was tempted by the power of the horcrux which is the only reason I'm going." Hermione reassured him again.

"Are you sure you don't want any of us to go?" Lily questioned.

"It might just be an abandoned cottage but you and James are supposed to be hiding and Sirius has work to go to. I will speak with the Professor tomorrow." She put her foot down.

"I spoke to Gideon today and he suggested going over to the Weasley's at the weekend. He knows they could use some help with the kids as Molly is due any day now." Sirius attempted to change the topic, sensing Hermione's annoyance. She smiled to herself realising that this must be Ginny and the Weasley's were in for a large surprise as she was the first girl born a Weasley in generations.

"That's a lovely idea. Harry and Ron can play together." Lily looked delighted at letting Harry meet his future best friend.

"Yes dear. I'm sure you've got all their playdates planned already." James snickered at his wife who slapped him upside the head. Soon afterwards they all headed upstairs to get some sleep.

Remus woke to find sunlight dancing in his eyes as he blinked up at the canopy of leaves above him. It took him a second to remember why he was on the floor in the forest. When he did, he immediately sat up and looked around. People were milling around in varying states of restlessness. The full moon was approaching and Remus knew only too well how edgy that could make him, let alone these men who were much more attuned and used to their wolf sides.

"Morning sleepy." A voice came from somewhere to his left. Standing up and looking over, he spotted Zayrin walking over to him with a deer slung over his shoulder. Remus' stomach did a somersault and he felt quite ill as he saw that the deer had very similar colourings to James when in his animagus form.

"Morning Zayrin." He forced himself to return his attention to the werewolf.

"I found some breakfast. Round here you scrounge what you can get and take care of yourself. As you're new round here I thought I'd share." Remus was taken aback by the generosity.

"Thank you." He replied genuinely.

Zayrin grunted. "Don't expect it again." He said gruffly. Remus watched as he built a fire and began skinning the deer. Having never seen this done before, he made sure to watch carefully and store all knowledge away for future use. "Some o' them might organise a trip to the village and steal a bunch of stuff. If you want any supplies that's the bes' time to get it."

Fighting down his first instinct to voice disgust at such behaviour, he forced his voice to it's usual calm. "I'll bear that in mind and go with them." Zayrin didn't reply, having returned his attention to the food. While they were eating the man who had been with Zayrin last night came back over.

"Oi! New blood!" Remus looked up but didn't move. "Get your ass over here." Reluctantly he got to his feet and moved over to the man. In the daylight his scars stood out much more vividly on his arms and neck. Long, dark brown hair hung to his shoulders and he wore shabby, torn robes. "I'm Thornton. And you are?"

"John."

"Now, look here, John." Thornton said the name with a cruel sneer. "Zayrin over there may have taken a liking to you but I don't like strangers in my camp." He poked Remus in the chest to emphasise his point. "How long ago were you changed?"

"About a year or so."

"And how in hell's name did you find us? We only have newcomers that have been bitten by someone from this camp."

"I was bitten by Greyback." He hoped the name of Fenrir Greyback could throw some weight behind his appeal to stay.

"Greyback huh? He rarely bites people your age. Specialises in kids he does."

"Wrong place, wrong time. Got me instead of the kid he was really after." Remus replied angrily. "What's it to you?"

"I don't like to be lied to." Thornton took a step forward threateningly. He was a few inches taller than Remus and looked down at him with a scowl.

"Good thing I'm not lying then." Remus replied coolly, staring back and refusing to back down. Thornton appraised him for a minute and then reluctantly moved back.

"Just watch your back from now on." He watched him go and mentally breathed a sigh of relief. The second man who had been at the fire last night stepped forward looking mildly impressed. He held his hand out for Remus to shake.

"I'm Greg. That was quite a show. Not many newbies round here stand up to old Thorn. Keep that up and you might just survive round here." Remus shook his hand.

"I've dealt with worse." He gave a small grin which was tentatively returned.

Hermione strode towards the front doors of Hogwarts for the second time in two days. This time she was alone as Sirius was looking after Harry so that James and Lily could have some couple time. Pushing open one of the great wooden doors, she made her way up the familiar path towards the Headmaster's office.

"Ice Mice." She said and the gargoyle sprang aside and she stepped onto the revolving platform. After knocking on the door and hearing a voice telling her to enter, Hermione walked inside and sat down. Dumbledore was alone and had evidently been pacing his office before her arrival. He took a seat behind the desk and smiled warmly.

"Good Evening Miss Lupin. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I wish to speak with you about going to Gaunt Cottage."

"Indeed." He looked down his long crooked nose at her, smiling benignly.

"I was hoping to accompany you. You have much more experience with the way Riddle performs magic and so have a better understanding of how he will have protected his horcrux. However the horcruxes have often proved that a single person alone should not try to deal with them." She struggled to find a way of phrasing it without saying she wanted to accompany the headmaster so he didn't do something stupid and be tempted to put on the ring despite her , he did seem to understand some of her thoughts and his eyes twinkled merrily.

"I believe you are correct Miss Lupin. I would be delighted if you would accompany me. When would you propose we leave?"

"As soon as possible Professor."

"Please call me Albus. Would tomorrow be acceptable to you?"

"Tomorrow would be perfect. Shall I come here or will you come to the Potter's?"

"I think it would be safer if we leave from the Potter's house. I will call at nine am sharp." Hermione smiled.

"Thank you. Goodnight," She paused. "Night Albus." Once out of the office she shook her head. It would always feel strange not calling him Professor.

The next morning dawned warm and bright. Sunshine shone through a gap in the curtains, falling over Hermione's face, waking her from a deep sleep. Upset at having woken, she tried going back to sleep but an accidental glance at the clock to her left told her it was ten minutes to nine. Muttering a curse she jumped out of bed and grabbed the first clothes she could find.

"Why didn't you wake me earlier?" She groused at James who was chuckling to himself at her sudden appearance into the kitchen.

"I was fixing to come and wake you up once I'd finished my drink." He grinned.

"He is supposed to be here in ten minutes. You could have gotten me sooner."

"Naa. It's funnier this way. Ow! Lils!" He complained as his wife hit him over the head as she came into the room.

"Sorry 'Mione. I was asleep and joker here seems to think being late is funny." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry Lily. No harm done." Hermione smiled at her. Just then the doorbell went and Hermione went to open it.

"Good morning Miss Lupin. Glad to see you up and ready." Dumbledore smiled down at her, eyes twinkling mischievously. As if he knew what had happened.

"Good morning Albus." Hermione smiled back. She grabbed her bag, said goodbye to the others and they set off toward a point where they could apparate from. Dumbledore took her by side along apparition as Hermione had never actually been to Little Hangleton before. Up ahead Gaunt Cottage was covered in foliage and dew that winked innocently in the morning sun. Ivy grew up one side while the other was completely hidden underneath a layer of moss. The grass was extremely long in the front garden and the door had been half broken off it's hinges. A dead snake was nailed to what remained of the door. The picture was just that of an innocently run down cottage and Hermione could scarcely believe this was where Voldemort's family had once lived.

As they approached Hermione suddenly felt a vague nagging sense that she was forgetting something. Something important she should have done back at the Potter's house. With every step closer to the house, the feeling got stronger until she felt the need to dash back home before something bad happened. The only thing stopping her was Professor Dumbledore's grip on her arm, grounding her. She shook her head trying to remember what Harry had taught her about Occlumency and trying to shake off, what she now realised was an enchantment. They were now only feet from the garden gate. Dumbledore wave his wand in some complex patterns and then the weight lifted from her mind and she could think clearly again.

"One spell down, plenty to go." She remarked quietly.

"Indeed." Was his only response. They made their way forward cautiously, wands held out before them. Dumbledore opened the gate and when nothing happened, Hermione let out a sharp breath of relief. As they made to go through, they hit an invisible barrier. They could not take another step forwards. Moving round, it seemed to be like an invisible bubble around the house. Dumbledore paused, frowning slightly before muttering under his breath. This took much longer than the first protection but finally there was a faint pop and, though nothing appeared to have changed, Hermione could now reach her hand forwards and past the gate.

Together, they made their way into the garden and to the door. Nothing seemed to stop them getting to the door. Peering inside, they saw a gloomy room. There were musty, moth-eaten curtains drawn over the only window. Pots and pans lay scattered on the floor and the cupboard, by the far wall that seemed to be where they belonged, was empty. A rotten wooden rocking chair sat in the middle of the room facing the fireplace. On the near side of the room was a large wooden table and three chairs all tucked in. Very thick dust coated the place. Some of the beams had fallen in from the roof, blocking a doorway on the far wall. The whole place had a somewhat creepy feel to it. Feeling a the base of the neck that you shouldn't be there. It was quite unsettling. Moving in unison, Hermione and Dumbledore stepped inside. Dumbledore cast a few more spells before progression further into the room. At first glance there seemed to be no place a horcrux may be hidden, except the inside of the chimney. Hermione had to stifle the urge to giggle at a voice in her head sounding suspiciously like Sirius, telling her the thought of teenage Tom Riddle crawling around in the fireplace to hide a ring. Logically she knew he would have used magic, but appreciated the humour nonetheless.

"Where first Pro..Albus?" She questioned. Speaking for the first time in minutes.

"Let us try the room that has been crudely blocked." He smiled thinly. Nodding in agreement, the duo made their way over and Dumbledore magically lifted the thick wooden beams out of the way, after checking it would not cause further structural damage to do so. The next room was clearly a bedroom. It was tiny. A single bed stood underneath a small window. Ragged, moth-eaten blankets lay on the thin mattress and the rest of the room was bare. ' _This must have been Voldemort's mother's room_ ', Hermione thought with wonder. Both adults could barely fit in the room in the space not taken up by the bed.

After determining that there was nothing on the bed, Hermione backed out of the room so that Dumbledore could check underneath the bed. He made a surprised sound of triumph as if he had found something but slid back out into view with nothing in his hands. Motioning her to stand back even more, he tried to magically move the bed out of the way, only to find it stuck in place.

"It is under the bed then?" Hermione asked, unable to stand the silence. Dumbledore nodded. He began waving his wand, silently this time, and frowning in concentration. If she had thought getting in had taken a while, this was even longer. It took well over an hour before he straightened up with a triumphant smile. There was a small wooden box in his hand. It was quite plain with a simple gold band outlining the lid. They moved back into the main room. Hermione readied the erumpent horn material as Dumbledore undid the golden clasp. Nestled inside, on a bed of red velvet, sat an ornate ring that Hermione had seen only once before. The smile on Dumbledore's face froze and then slid right off. He started to reach for the ring but his movements were robotic as if he had no control over himself. Knowing she had to act fast, Hermione tried to take the box from him but, with reflexes much better than an old man should have, he grasped her wrist with the hand not holding the box and pushed her away.

"Professor! Stop! Don't touch it!" Whipping out her hand, she tried to summon the box but nothing happened. Dumbledore had a manic gleam in his eyes of desperate longing.

"I can see them again. Finally apologise." He was rambling to himself as he picked the ring out of the box and held it up to get a better look. Before he could put it on, Hermione made a grab for the ring while he wasn't looking. As the ring was snatched from his grasp, Dumbledore turned on Hermione, wand pointed directly at her nose.

"That is mine." He stated coldly. The iciness in his voice had never been directed at her before and it gave Hermione chills.

"It is a part of Voldemort's soul. It is not yours."

"The stone. I need the stone. Give it to me." His voice was rising with anger and he began to pull the wand back as if to cast a spell. In desperation, Hermione threw the ring into a corner and then threw the bottle of erumpent horn material after it. Grabbing the outstretched arm of her old headmaster, Hermione turned on the spot. The last thing she saw was the bottle break on the floor and her ears rang with the noise of a violent explosion. And then...darkness overcame her.

(Happy Monday. An extra long chapter to get us all through another long week. :) Or that could just be for me)


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: Meeting the Weasleys

"She should have woken up by now." A familiar voice sounded close by.

"Give it time Sirius. She just over exerted herself." Another familiar voice tried reassuring the first person.

"It's been two days." The first voice seemed stressed.

"Alas, there is not much we can do but give her time to recover." A third person entered the argument.

Hermione didn't know where she was. Her mind was a foggy haze, fragments of memories floating around in her brain. A loud 'bang' and streaks or red and gold as darkness enveloped her. Was she dead? She tried opening her eyes but her eyelids felt far too heavy. She also felt like she should know the people those voices belonged to, but her brain just wouldn't work. Sleep beckoned to her welcomingly, and Hermione let it take her.

When she next awoke, she was able to open her eyes. It was dark and the curtains were drawn making her assume it was nighttime. Then she noticed the warmth beside her and looked over to see Sirius lying next to her, one arm wrapped protectively across her midriff. Smiling to herself, Hermione kissed his cheek gently, trying not to wake him up. He did shift uneasily, but didn't wake up. Even having been awake a few short minutes, she was still quite tired and fell back asleep, turning to face Sirius and placing her head on his shoulder.

Next morning, Hermione was awoken by a voice asking Sirius if he wanted breakfast in bed. Sirius declined politely and turned to look at the sweet woman in his arms. Instead of seeing her closed eyes as he had grown used to, he found himself staring into chocolate brown orbs.

"You're awake!" He exclaimed in surprise.

"She is?" James poked his head back in with a wide grin. "Thank goodness."

"You gave me such a fright." Sirius complained.

"What happened?" Hermione asked looking round bemusedly.

"You destroyed the ring with the erumpent material but when you tried to disapparate, Dumbledore was fighting you to get to the ring and you splinched yourself. His delay also meant you got caught in part of the explosion. You've been unconscious for three days."

"How bad was it?" She queried, suddenly picturing Ron with half of his upper arm scooped out.

"You had some bad burns on your arms and legs. You left an eyebrow and part of your right thigh behind." Sirius reported in a bland tone of voice. No more emotion than giving a weather report, but she knew how hard this had been on him.

The next few days past quickly. Dumbledore stopped by, offering profuse apologies for his behaviour and feeling extremely guilty that his actions had caused her injury. She was sure she had heard Sirius muttering about how he really should be sorry and how lucky he was that no permanent damage had been caused. Sirius had been really attentive to her, catering to her every whim but at the same time he seemed slightly distant. She could tell something was bothering him. Finally she had enough, she had left it a couple more days to give him time to tell her, but she had now decided to confront him.

"Sirius?" She started cautiously, on the Saturday evening, the day before they were going to meet the Weasleys.

"Yes, love?" He replied, looking over at her from the window he had been staring out of absent-mindedly.

"What's the matter? You've been rather distant lately?"

"Just thinking." He dodged.

"About?" She pressed, frowning slightly.

"You. You really should stop going on all these dangerous missions." Hermione froze. As she processed his words she stood up and glared at him.

"What makes you say that?" Was her reply, much calmer than she felt.

"That's twice you've had almost fatal injuries. What if the next time you go out, you aren't so lucky? Nobody has that much good luck 'Mione. Nobody is invincible and I don't want to lose you. Maybe it's time for others to take up the front line. You've done so much already."

"How can you even suggest such a thing Sirius Black? You'd rather someone else take the fall?"

"I love you. I have no idea what I would do if I lost you and it seems that every time you go out I get closer and closer to finding out." He retorted, voice getting sharper.

"Oh, so you'd feel so much better if James was out there taking all the risks?" She snapped back.

"So what if I would?"

"Either you don't care so much if you're best friend is the one who gets killed." At this, Sirius flinched horribly and started to interrupt.

"'Mione you know that's not…"

"OR!" She raised her voice, talking right over him. "You think that he can protect himself better than I can. Is that because you think I'm some helpless girl?" She spat.

"Of course I know you can protect yourself. But I'd rather you stopped getting into situations where you have to."

"This is war, Sirius. War! We aren't going to win by happily skipping round the fields picking daisies. We have to take risks and we have to fight. I can hardly do that sitting on the sidelines can I?"

"You've told us all you know. Let us take some chances." He begged.

"You went to the cave and I didn't throw a complete fit about it. Ok, I was worried about you, I always am but I didn't stop you going. It's not as if I'm running off in front of an Avada Kedavra, Black. I'm trying to destroy Voldemort."

"I know that. I'm not saying stop fighting completely, but you could at least take less risks. Going alone with Dumbledore when you knew it was going to mess with his head was stupid and dangerous. Duelling Bellatrix alone was beyond dangerous. You almost died both times."

"Sometimes there isn't a choice." She replied coolly. Then she stormed off down to the potions lab to calm down. She knew she was being slightly unreasonable and he was only being caring but it was smothering. She wondered if this was how Harry felt when everyone kept him out of everything even though it was his destiny to do something about it. SHe would have to apologise to Sirius for over reacting at some point, but for now she buried herself in the potion she had been trying to perfect. It was exactly the same colour as Harry had described it the only time he had seen it. Smoke was also coming off the cauldron as it had been described to her. Hermione beamed, argument forgotten. She had successfully brewed some Wolfsbane potion. They would have to send word to Remus.

Sirius stood, watching his girlfriend storming out with a stunned expression similar to someone who had recently been hit over the head with a saucepan. After a few seconds, James came in.

"Couldn't help overhearing." He gave a lopsided grin.

"Bet you could." Sirius snorted is slight amusement.

"Well, maybe, but that's not the point. You should have known that would set her off. She has spent almost her whole life getting into dangerous situations in name of war. If a basilisk, Dementors, Voldemort, Death Eaters, more Death Eaters, Bellatrix and countless other things can't kill her then I doubt a couple more missions are going to do much harm. I know she shouldn't be used to this, and I realise how unfair it is, but it's still true. She is not a child, Padfoot. You can't hide her away at home and expect her to let you go off to fight. You go out chasing bad guys almost every day as a job. You could get killed every day, you can't expect Hermione to be ok with that and then be ok with sitting at home doing nothing while you do."

"I know mate. I know. But I can hope can't I?" Sirius looked so utterly woebegone, James didn't have the heart to take the mickey.

"You can, but I wouldn't mention it unless you want your head bitten off. And for good reason." He grinned.

"Yeah. I think I learnt that lesson. It just feels like every time she is out of my sight, and out fighting, she comes back on death's door again."

"I understand. I worry to death about Lily and she mostly stays home. I would be doing a nut too if she was out and about but at the same time I would be incredibly proud."

"I am beyond proud. 'Mione has done so much, I just feel like she should have a little self preservation and let others do a little of the work." Sirius tried to justify his point, knowing that it was indeed pointless. "I'm not going to actually stop her. Just hope she takes a few less risks." As they talked there was a cry of joy from below. They both hurried down to see Hermione and Lily beaming in the front room.

"We must get word to Remus." Lily was saying joyfully.

"What did we miss?" James asked, moving over to hug his wife.

"Hermione has finished the Wolfsbane potion. We think it's ready for testing. If it works he should keep his mind during the transformation." Lily informed them with a grin. They both blinked in surprise.

"That's wonderful." James grinned.

"Well done 'Mione." Sirius said quietly. Silence spread over the room and tension rose between the two.

"We'll just leave you two to talk then." James excused himself and ushered Lily out of the room up to get Harry. Sirius and Hermione just looked at each other anxiously. A few moments passed but they felt like an eternity.

"I'm sorry." They blurted out at the same time.

"No. Let me." Hermione smiled nervously. "I didn't mean to bite your head off earlier. I do understand why you worry, and I worry about you too. I just can't stand to sit on the side and watch everyone I love take risks for me."

"I know, love. I'm not asking you to sit around here and never leave the house. I won't deny that part of me would love that but I have more faith in your abilities than that. I also know better for fear of my own safety." He tried to inject some humour and was relieved when she let out a bright laugh.

"I should think so too." She grinned.

"But you can't deny you have been a little reckless. I only ask that you accept a little more help from us. That's what we are here for. You came to us for our help in changing the future and we want to do our best."

"You've already done so much." Hermione murmured. He reached forwards and grasped both her hands in his.

"Yet not enough. The monster is not dead yet. He is still a threat to us, my best friends and my godson. This is our fight as much as yours 'Mione." His eyes were pleading with her to understand and accept his point of view. After a few moments she nodded.

"I promise to do my best not to take any unnecessary risks. As long as you promise not to overreact everytime something goes wrong. As much as we both may not like it, this is war. Injuries are going to happen. I will do my best to keep out of the way and stay safe but there are no guarantees. I don't want to end up having this argument every time I get hurt."

"I make no promises not to overreact when you're hurt. I love you and it hurts me when you're injured. But I won't rehash this argument every time and I will do my best to keep calm."

"That's all I ask." She said, moving forward into his arms. Sirius held her close to him, revelling in her warmth.

"Well that's our first fight as a couple out of the way." Sirius grinned slightly.

"Let's keep it as first and only." Hermione said, wishing it would remain that way. He laughed and kissed her softly.

"Oi! Get a room you two." James had entered the room carrying Harry and covering the toddler's eyes while grinning.

"Oh give over James." Lily chuckled, nudging her husband playfully.

Soon it was time for a trip to the Weasley's. They had planned to meet the Prewett twins in the village nearby and then walk up to the Burrow for introductions. Gideon and Fabian were there waiting when the group arrived and greeted them happily. It was a warm, sunny day and the sun beat down on their necks while they walked. A light breeze blew across their faces lightly as the lopsided building came into sight. The twins strode up as if they owned the place and walked straight in the front door. The group followed and were greeted with the sight of a very heavily pregnant Molly Weasley.

"Hiya Mol." Gideon hugged his older sister gingerly.

"Trouble One and Trouble Two." She replied with a small smile.

"We brought company. This is James and Lily Potter and their son Harry." The three stepped forwards and Molly pulled them all in for a hug which was slightly awkward around the baby bump.

"So nice to meet you all. Gideon and Fabian speak very highly of you." She smiled politely.

"And this is Sirius Black and Hermione Lupin. She is Remus Lupin's cousin." The other two stepped forwards and when she hugged Hermione a rush of memories overtook her. The Burrow had always been a second home to her during her time at Hogwarts. Molly was like another mother and had counted her amongst her own children from the second she was announced as Ron's friend. The hug felt so familiar and yet so very different.

"Pleasure." Hermione beamed. "When is the little one due?" She asked, knowing very well exactly when the baby would be born. Sirius gave her a knowing grin behind the backs of the twins.

"He is due in a few days."

"He?" Sirius asked innocently.

"Well, all the children in the Weasley family have been boys for about the last five generations." Arthur explained, coming into the room and wrapping an arm around his wife. "I'm Arthur Weasley, nice to meet you all." They all shook hands and then Molly directed them all into the living room. As they walked in, they saw two young boys playing exploding snap in one corner. They looked around ten and eleven so Hermione figured this must be Bill and Charlie. It was incredibly strange seeing them both so small but not half as bizarre as spotting the small red haired boy in a playpen beside them. Ron was very small and entranced by his brothers playing.

"These are our eldest. William, who already prefers Bill and Charlie. That is our youngest at the moment. Ronald." Arthur pointed at each of his children in turn.

"Where are Percy and the twins?" Gideon asked.

"Upstairs in their rooms. I dread to think what the twins are conjuring up." Molly sighed. James, Sirius and the twins all cracked identical, evil grins.

"Whatever you are planning, no!" Lily told them all.

"Awww. Lils!" James whined. "We aren't planning anything."

"Yeah right." Hermione scoffed.

"'Mione. You're supposed to be on our side." Sirius pretended to look hurt. Molly and Arthur both look rather amused.

"I think that's time for lunch." Molly announced, heading for the kitchen.

(A/N It's still technically Monday! Whoop...I'm getting so good at this regular posting malarky. Anyways, please review guys, been getting quite a few less lately and they really do help with motivation. Gotta know what my audience think or there is't much point posting it. I could just write it for myself. Love you all)


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Visitors

While Molly was in the kitchen making sandwiches for everyone, two twin boys came toddling into the room whispering excitedly and giggling. They looked around three years old. Hermione almost felt her heart stop. It was almost impossible to tell which one was Fred and which was George but it felt almost strange seeing two. The memory of Fred's last laugh was etched into her memory and to see him so young, giggling with George, blissfully unaware of his possible future, was heartbreaking. As Hermione looked around, she saw similar sad smiles on the faces of Sirius, James and Lily as they remembered being told Fred died. The twins spotted the guests and cracked grins.

"I'm Gred." The closest said. Hermione remembered that Fred did tend to be the more outspoken and ever so slightly taller and so had a sneaking suspicion that this was indeed Fred, alive and happy.

"And I'm Gorge." The other took a step forward. He tried to call himself 'Forge' but had trouble pronouncing the 'f' sound and so settled for Gorge.

"Gred and Gorge huh? Those are great names." Sirius grinned, moving forward so he was sat on the floor by the toddlers.

"Who you?" They said together.

"Fred, George, this is Sirius Black, Hermione Lupin, James Potter, Lily Potter and their son Harry." Fred seemed to get bored with the introductions and spotted his brothers playing exploding snap. He toddled over behind Bill's back and yelled in his ear making him jump and so lose the game as the cards exploded in his face, singeing an eyebrow.

"Fred!" Bill yelped.

"I'm not Fred. He Fred." Fred pointed to his brother.

"I Gorge." The second twin protested.

"Boys, stop arguing. Fred, don't annoying your brother when he is playing." Arthur stepped in. Gideon, Fabian and the two marauders were desperately trying not to laugh and failing rather miserably. Lily put Harry down with Ron in the playpen and whacked her husband upside the head telling him not to encourage the twins, looking betrayed when she caught Hermione laughing with the boys. Bill and Charlie gave up on their game and came over to the visitors.

"So is it your first year at Hogwarts?" Hermione asked Bill kindly.

"Yep." He puffed out his chest proudly. "Well, next September. I'm not eleven 'till November." He added with a slight scowl.

"Wish I could go too." Charlie pouted.

"Soon dear." Lily smiled at him.

"Did you all go to Hogwarts?" Bill asked eagerly. They all nodded except Hermione. "What about you?" He asked.

"No. My parents moved to America when I was younger so I went to school there." She lied cautiously. Bill frowned slightly but didn't comment.

"What's it like?" Charlie looked at them, wide eyed. He was shorter than his brother, Percy was almost the same height as him despite being four years younger.

"It's incredible." Sirius beamed widely. This attracted the twins attention. They toddled over and raised their arms until their uncles picked them up and sat them on their knees. Sirius, James and the Prewett twins spent a while recounting their adventures to the kids until Molly called them all for some food.

"So how old are you, Charlie?" Hermione asked as they sat down at the kitchen table. It hadn't really changed much over the years, except Ginny didn't have a hand on the magical clock. Fred's was obviously back on there now as well.

"Gonna turn 9 this year." He grinned again and she noticed he was missing a front tooth giving him a rather adorable appearance. He was younger than she had originally thought.

"What about you two?" Sirius asked, looking over at the small twins. Fred thought about it for a second and then held up three fingers. "Three? Wow. You're so big." He exclaimed in fake astonishment. They both giggled.

"I'm going to be five soon." Percy announced proudly, not wanted to be left out.

"You're very grown up too Perce." Hermione assured him with a smile. Fred and George both giggled.

"I Percy. I da best." Fred did his best to imitate his older brother causing the table to try and not erupt into laughter.

"George. Don't mock your brother." Molly sighed.

"I not Gorge." Fred told her smartly.

"Sorry Fred." She looked exasperated. Hermione was now really struggling to hold back her mirth. Sirius was not faring much better and the Prewetts had already given up. Molly served up the food and everyone dug in with gusto.

"This is amazing Molly." James said between large mouthfuls of steak and mashed potatoes.

"Thank you dear." She smiled at him. Once everyone was finished Arthur magically set all the dishes to clean themselves while his wife served treacle tart as dessert. Then both mothers set about finding something for the two one year olds to eat. Once everyone was happily fed and watered they made their way back to the living room and chatted for a while.

Soon the guests began to feel as if they had overstayed their welcome. Which was of course ridiculous, there was never such a thing in Molly's eyes, but the decided to head off and give the family some peace and quiet. They departed with promises to visit again and to come and see the new baby when he arrived. Only Hermione smirked slightly as the use of the masculine pronoun, although SIrius winked at her when he saw.

Remus sighed deeply. The past few days had been hard. Catching his own food in the manner of the other werewolves was repulsive to him, not to mention difficult when not used to doing such things. He was also frustrated not to be making any progress with the group. Zayrin and Greg had become sort of friends, but nobody else gave him the time of day let alone listen to what he had to say. Hushed, whispered conversations with Zayrin had changed that werewolf's mind on wizards. He was prepared to at least consider not joining Voldemort if the chance came up but would make no further promises than that. Remus hadn't even bothered approaching Greg on the topic yet. He wasn't sure he could trust him not to blab to Thornton.

Other than these two, it seemed that most of the camp were supportive of what Voldemort was trying to do and so it was too risky for Remus to attempt to gather any to his side. But sooner than anticipated his hand was almost forced. It had begun with a usual day. He got up with Zayrin and went out to catch some breakfast. This time it had been a rabbit. Then they prepared it. Once that was done they had been preparing to move off to the nearby village and loot some things when three figures had turned up. They wore black cloaks and Remus felt a pit in his stomach. If he were really unlucky a Death Eater may recognise him. On the off chance that they didn't, they may make any attempt to gather the werewolves useless.

Their hoods remained up as they strolled casually up to the camp borders where they were confronted by Thornton and his crowd. Although they did stop, the contempt was evident in their posture.

"Who goes there?" Thornton asked with a scowl.

"We are here on behalf of our lord and master, Lord Voldemort." One of them replied, impatience creeping into his tone. That drew the camps attention. Heads turned in their direction and unease was almost tangible in the air. Zayrin gave Remus a sideways wary look.

"We have no desire to listen." One of the crowd spoke up.

"You will." The Death Eater at the back sneered. Remus felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he recognised Regulus Black's voice from his school days. He said nothing for now. The wind was whistling through the trees in the silence that echoed around the camp following that statement. Most of them bristled at the assumption but others looked interested.

"Why should we not kill you for coming onto our land?" Thornton asked.

"Because Voldemort can offer you much more than...this." The last Death Eater finally spoke up, making a show of looking around the camp and sneering.

"Lord Voldemort can offer you a lifetime of luxury, A world were you don't have to hide your disease, but you can openly embrace it and have your choice of prey." Regulus was speaking again. A few more were looking interested now. "If you join him now, you will no longer be outcasts of society and people will fear you."

"Doesn't Voldemort hate anybody lower than Pureblood? There is no guarantee he will treat us with any more respect than we get now." Remus finally worked up the nerve to speak out. He could see them thinking it over and more and more were seemingly agreeing with Regulus, he had to do something. Zayrin threw him a wide eyed look of panic and the Death Eaters all turned to look at him. He saw the one that was Regulus recoil slightly as he recognised Remus. "Voldemort tortures his followers, why should we believe that he will not kill us all for being lesser than him once we have done his dirty work?" Remus continued. He saw a few of the more moderate men frowning, digesting his words.

"Filthy mongrels." The first ones muttered quietly to his companions. They only caught it because the Death Eaters seemed to have forgotten about their superior hearing. "Who do you think you are to question the Dark Lord?" He spoke louder now.

"I think I'm sceptical about accepting an offer with no guarantee of a better life. Just empty promises from a man who thinks himself above everyone else. He is no different from the rest of society now. Except they do not kill us." Remus argued back.

"You seem to think you are well informed of the Dark Lord." Regulus frowned, his hood slipping back slightly as he tried to give Remus a warning look without being obvious.

"I am." Remus shot back. "I haven't been a werewolf long and before that I knew of the man who calls himself Lord Voldemort." He sneered the name. The lead Death Eater shot a spell at him.

"How dare you! Filth!" The stunning spell shot harmlessly passed his head but it seemed to jerk the werewolves out of their stupor.

"How dare we? How dare you? How dare you come here and start casting spells at our camp." Greg snarled. A few others stood beside him, arms folded across their chest.

"Go and tell your master we need more time to decide." Thornton scowled at them.

"He is not a patient man. We will expect your answer at dusk tomorrow." Regulus informed them. With that, he half dragged his companions away. The wolves all turned on Remus.

"What do you think you were doing, arguing with Death Eaters like that, boy?" Thornton spat.

"Pointing out the flaws in their philosophy." Remus replied coolly. "You cannot honestly believe that Voldemort is going to grant you everything you desire. He is a pureblood bigot, who, may I remind you, are the ones who put in the laws that put us in this state. He will take what he wants from us and then slaughter us all."

"So you would have us all fight against him. Run around like tame dogs for Albus Dumbledore." Thornton spat.

"I would have us remain neutral. We do not need to throw our hand in early. For if we pick the losing side our lives will be made much much worse."

"He makes a good point." One of the crowd stepped forward. A few murmurs of agreement ran through the crowd. Thornton was scowling deeply.

"The boy is right." Zayrin interrupted. HIs thought carried a lot of weight around the pack. "As a pack we must look out for our own interests. Nobody elses. Nobody will look out for ours." A few cries and jeers were heard amongst the watching group. It seemed Thornton knew he was outvoted, so he stormed off muttering about how they would regret this. A steady peace had settled over the camp as a decision was made but that peace was fragile. Remus knew it would not take anything more than a match to set it all aflame again. He would have to tread very carefully in the future.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Even the bravest must fall

Remus awoke in the middle of the night to someone shaking his shoulder. He looked around blearily, blinking sleep out of his eyes and saw Regulus Black standing over him. He frowned deeply and looked around, seeing that it was still pitch black and so must be the middle of the night.

"What are you doing?" Remus asked sleepily.

Saving your ass." Regulus hissed. "You shouldn't have done that earlier. That was Rudolphus and Rabastan Lestrange. Husband and brother-in-law to Bellatrix who I'm sure you've heard of." Remus' eyes widened.

"What about them?"

"After your little speech they want you assassinated. They think you are interfering with our mission and if we fail the Dark Lord will punish us."

"I'm supposed to be here stopping the werewolves turning."

"I know that you dolt. But I also know my brother would be distraught if anything happened to you. You need to get yourself out of here. If you can trust anyone, maybe get them to carry on in your stead. They will be coming for you before dawn." Regulus warned him in an undertone.

"I understand. Thank you, Regulus."

"Do not misunderstand me, I do this for Sirius. And only for Sirius." His face went cold and stern. Remus tried to hide a smile at this act of toughness. He did not want to be seen doing a kindness just for kindness sake.

"One last favour. We may need a hair of Rudolphus or Rabastan. We believe there is a horcrux in the Lestrange vault." Remus grabbed his arm as he was about to leave.

"You want to break into Gringotts? Impossible." Regulus looked at him incredulously.

"It's not." Remus smiled. "But a hair would really help. Maybe Kreacher could deliver it to Sirius."

"I'll see what I can do." Regulus promised. "I must go before I'm missed." He hurried away and was soon swallowed up by the darkness. Instantly Remus got up and collected his scant possessions. He then moved over and carefully woke Zayrin who was awake instantly, jumping up with a knife in hand.

"Oh. It's only you. What the hell are you doing sneaking about in the middle of the night."

"I had a tip off. After my speech earlier the Death Eaters are going to attempt to kill me. I need to get out of here. Wait for it to cool down. Once they are gone I can come back."

"You're leaving? Undoing all your good work so far?" Zayrin looked both upset and irritated.

"I need to live. I will be back."

"If Thornton finds out there is a price on your head he will hand you over without hesitation." Zayrin reminded him.

"I know. I trust that you can take my place."

"You assume far too much."

"I know this is a lot to ask. I wouldn't if it wasn't important Zayrin. Please!" Remus begged. Zayrin eyed him for a minute.

"Fine." The older man agreed with much reluctance. "Come back in a week and I will see what I can do." Remus nodded and the two men shook hands. Remus then turned and sprinted silently out of the clearing. He waited until he was a good few miles away before stopping to think about where to go. It would be safer to go back to his apartment he shared with Sirius really. So he disapparated and after a few seconds of squeezing, he appeared right in front of his old front door. He hadn't exactly been gone long but it felt like a lifetime.

Remus opened the door and stepped inside. The front hallway was dark and he assumed Sirius was in bed and so he crept forward silently. As he rounded the corner a wand was suddenly pointed at his face.

"Don't move." A familiar voice hissed.

"Sirius, It's me. Remus." Remus whispered.

"What was the very first prank we ever played together, just the two of us?"

"We put frogspawn soap in the dormitory bathroom when we knew James would use it right before his first ever attempt to ask Lily out." Remus replied with a grin.

"You're back." Suddenly the wand tip moved away from his face and ignited just as Sirius engulfed him in a hug.

"No? Really?" He replied sarcastically.

"Good to see you missed me too Remy."

"Don't call me Remy, Siri." They shared a grin and moved to the couch. Remus caught Sirius up on all that had happened to him while he was with the werewolves. Sirius looked almost ready to cry and laugh at the same time as he listened to how his brother had gone out of his way to save Remus, for him. It was the final proof he had been looking for that his brother was completely back on the light side. He hadn't felt this light since, probably, Harry was born. Once he had finished his tale, Sirius recounted everything Remus had missed while away. Hearing about the twins made him smile. He did hope that he had enough time to see the youngest Weasley born before he had to return to his mission.

"In the morning I will drop in on James, Lily and Hermione. Then I need to go and report to Dumbledore." Remus decided. They both decided to call it a night as it was around 3 in the morning before they finished talking. Remus was almost in heaven being back sleeping in a proper bed as opposed to the forest floor.

Both men awoke rather late the following morning. They took their time having breakfast and getting ready so it was almost midday before they flooed to the Potter's house. Sirius went through first and Remus followed quickly after. As he arrived spinning onto the floor, thankfully landing on his feet, he saw James staring at him gobsmacked. Hermione was the first to react and jumped up to give him a tight hug.

"We were so worried." She breathed.

"Sure. He gets a better welcome than me." Sirius grumbled, but with no real heat in it.

"We both know 'Mione loves me best." Remus smirked as he was then hit again as Lily joined the hug before Hermione let go.

"Awww, group hug." James announced before piling on top so that Remus was surrounded on all sides.

"I'm delighted with your enthusiasm but please do try not to suffocate me." He told them all dryly.

"We'll do our best." James told him before finally getting off. The girls peeled off of him and they all sat themselves down, eager to hear his story. As he was talking, Lily went into the kitchen and fetched some lunch. She felt so bad hearing about how he was going hungry or eating not much, she felt it was her duty to feed him back up. Remus smiled at her mothering and ate some just to make her feel better even though he had only just had breakfast. Once he had caught his friends up, he told them he needed to get on and report to Dumbledore. As he was leaving, Hermione called him back.

"Remus, I think I've finally perfected the wolfsbane potion. Like I said, it doesn't stop the transformation, but you keep your human mind instead." Remus just blinked owlishly as her. He couldn't quite believe his ears. If he didn't know that she wouldn't be cruel enough to joke about something like that he would assume it was a prank.

"You're serious?"

"No, I am." Came the call from the kitchen, where Sirius had just disappeared. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I mean it." She handed him a bottle. He just gaped at it, awestruck.

"You realise what this could do in terms of getting the werewolves on our side?" He asked her. Now it was her turn to gape. Hermione had only ever really thought about Remus. Obviously the potion would be invented at some point.

"But how would I go about making it public? I would need to show all sorts of research that I don't have and I can hardly say, oh yeah, by the way, I am from the future." Hermione sighed.

"We should still find a way." Hermione nodded. It was then decided she would go to Dumbledore with Remus while the others stayed with Harry. As they left Lily fed Harry while Sirius pulled funny faces. As they sat in the front room talking about all the possibilities there was a crack and Kreature appeared in the room.

"Master Regulus sends this." He held out a single strand of hair. As Sirius took it, Kreature disapparated. Even if Regulus liked Sirius now, Kreature still didn't like him. They all looked slightly shocked and excited at the same time. They were actually going to attempt to rob Gringotts. They fell deep into a new discussion about how they would go about doing so.

The rest of the week passed far too quickly for Remus' liking. As the 11th dawned, he knew it was time to go back to the werewolves camp. He had his potion hidden in his robes. As he got ready to go at the Potter's two owls flew in at the same time. Sirius picked up one that was addressed to him.

"Merlin's pants! POssible Death Eater attack. I gotta go to work now." He yelped.

"Oh my gosh. Molly's in labour!" Lily cried at the same time.

"Remus, you have to come with us to meet the new baby." James beamed. They had been over to the Weasley's almost every other day for the past week. Sirius was already pecking Hermione on the cheek, saying he would meet them there. He flooed to his own apartment and then flooed to the Ministry. Gideon, Kingsley and Fabian met him there. Theirs was the unit assigned to this attack along with Alastor's unit. All eight of them disapparated to a scene of chaos. It was a small muggle village consisting of about fifteen buildings in total. A gigantic green skull was floating above one house as muggles ran everywhere trying to get away from the jets of light that were flying everywhere. Death Eaters were jeering and laughing as they caused screams of pain and fright.

Sirius felt his instincts kicking in and immediately scanned for cover. There was a low brick wall nearby, he motioned to Fabian who followed him. They ducked behind it and peered around, shooting a couple of stunners at nearby Death Eaters. This drew their attention away from the muggles and to the arriving Aurors. Spells now flew in their direction causing the two units to break off and return fire. The Aurors had the element of surprise and managed to stun two of the opposition before they started to accurately return fire. Sirius saw a jet of purple light his one of Moody's guys even as he himself hit the offending Death Eater with a full body bind. Fabian had moved to fight alongside his brother. They were outnumbered, fighting at least three each. Sirius moved to help but was intercepted by a masked Death Eater. They started duelling and the mask fell off revealing Thorfin Rowle. He failed to match Sirius' skill and he was soon stunned.

They were slowly being pushed back. There were bodies everywhere. Sirius almost stumbled as his foot snagged on a Death Eater that Kingsley had stunned while Sirius had been distracted by a killing curse that went whizzing past Fabian. Suddenly there was screaming as he was then hit by a red jet of light and forced to his knees in agony. Gideon's head snapped round so fast he was in danger of whiplash. His face furious, he cast a lightning quick series of spells at the Death Eater who fell under the onslaught. Sirius ran forward to help cover Fabian, Kingsley joining them to form a triangle around him.

Another of Moody's Aurors went down to a silver spell Sirius had never seen before. He had no time to dwell on this as he ducked another killing curse that came his way. A loud cry of fury ripped the air and Sirius whirled around to see Gideon cut down Rabastan Lestrange. His brother's mask slipped as he sent spell after spell at the offending twin. Time seemed to slow down. An evil grin appeared on his face as he slipped a killing curse into the mix. Fabian reacted purely on instinct to dive and knock his brother out of the way. Kingsley tried to fire back but there was a loud cry and all the Death Eaters suddenly disapparated. Sirius looked around, trying to discern the amount of damage that had been done. There was a keening sound of grief renting the air before it turned to sobs.

"Fabian. Fabian, no. NO!" Gideon was shaking his brother's shoulders desperately. As he made his way over, SIrius saw, to his horror, that the man's chest was not moving. Fabian Prewett was dead.


	17. Chapter 17

(A/N *ducks all flying objects coming my way* I'm sorry but I planned that from the start. Hermione is there to make a difference, sure, but this is still war. She cannot save everybody that is simply unrealistic. Love you all, thanks for all the wonderful reviews and likes :) Also, I know I was supposed to do an extra update this week but life happened. If I can't update before I wish you all a Happy Christmas.)

Chapter 17: New Life

Sirius stood there, stunned. He felt like he was watching one of those muggle television things. Gideon was still lying across his twins' chest. Kingsley was trying to console him. Moody limped over and his gnarled face twisted into a pained expression. Sirius looked at him and recoiled in shock. Part of his nose was now missing. Moody appeared to have stopped the bleeding but had been unable to regrow the missing chunk of flesh.

"Any other casualties?" Sirius asked tentatively.

"Simonson and Head are both dead. Longbottom is unconscious but breathing. However we have Rabastan Lestrange, Thorfin Rowle and Augustus Rookwood stunned, we can take them back for questioning and trial. The one problem is we also caught Barty Crouch's son." At this news, Kingsley stood up and looked around.

"Crouch Junior is a Death Eater?" Moody nodded gravely.

"That is going to cause a stir at the Ministry. I will let Barty know personally." Kingsley frowned. Sirius moved over to Gideon and knelt down.

"We should take his body back. There is nothing we can do for him now." Sirius put his hand on his shoulder. Gideon didn't acknowledge him at all. Sirius stood and made Gideon get to his feet. "Your sister is in labour." He said. This got Gideon's attention.

"Now?" He asked his voice hoarse. Sirius nodded. They looked over to Kingsley who gave the nod of approval for Gideon to head to St Mungo's. Once he had disapparated, they two left looked at each other.

"I can't believe he is gone." Sirius admitted, a single tear trickling down his cheek.

"You best get to St Mungo's. Alastor and I can handle this." Kingsley assured him. "Just keep an eye on Gideon." Sirius nodded and disapparated immediately. As he arrived in St Mungo's he heard a familiar voice yelling.

"She's my sister! I want to see her!" Gideon was at the front desk. He looked alarming given the tear streaked cheeks and red eyes. Sirius hurried over. He grabbed Gideon's arm and left. He remembered the way from when Lily had Harry. They strode into the ward not two minutes later. Molly was on the bed surrounded by Arthur, James, Lily, Remus and Hermione. There was a baby screeching in her arms and both Weasley's had a look of complete awe on their faces.

"Sirius, Gide…" James' voice died in his throat as he took in the appearance of the two newcomers.

"How's the baby?" Gideon asked in a hoarse voice.

"She's fine." Lily assured him. That got his attention.

"She? There hadn't been a girl born to the Weasley's in…"

"6 Generations." Arthur smiled proudly. "Our little Ginny is a miracle.

"Ginny?" Sirius asked, fighting a smile.

"Sirius, Gideon, meet Ginevra Molly Weasley." Molly beamed proudly as she held the tiny baby out to her brother. "Gideon, what's the matter?" Molly suddenly asked, noting his appearance for the first time. "Where is Fabian?" This last question broke the thin thread of control Gideon had managed to regain. He handed Ginny back to her father and broke down sobbing.

"Fabian was killed by Death Eaters this morning." Sirius told everyone quietly, as it became clear Gideon could not get the words out. There were horrified gasps. Molly stared at him wide-eyed until she too, broke down in sobs clinging to Gideon tightly. Hermione moved over and pulled Sirius into a tight hug, seeing how much this was affecting him too. He automatically brought an arm around her waist and then buried his face in her hair. James clapped him on the back while Lily took the baby so that Arthur could hold his wife. Ginny seemed to sense the distress and started crying. Lily started bumping her up and down.

Just then a healer came along with some potions in her hand. She took in the scene of many tears and frowned slightly.

"These are for you Mrs Weasley. Once you have had those, I'll take the baby for some final checks. If all appears well then you may go home tomorrow after overnight observations." She explains with an attempt at a cheerful smile.

"Thank you Healer Demetri." Arthur responds for his wife. He takes the potions and coaxes Molly to drink them. The healer takes Ginny from Lily and walks off with her. "Come on, love, you need to drink." Arthur pleads with his wife as Molly is too upset to choke down the last potion. Hermione, Lily, James and Sirius decide to leave the family to both grieve and celebrate.

"Do you want us to and relieve the babysitter?" Hermione asks.

"That would be lovely. Thank you Hermione." Arthur smiles. With that, she gives Molly a reassuring hug and then ushers the boys and Lily out of the room. Once out of the building Remus bade them farewell as he was due back with the werewolves. They apparated to the Burrow. Inside is Alice Longbottom desperately yelling at the twins to calm down.

"Looks like you could use a hand." Lily grinned as the four walked in. Alice whirls around.

"Oh thank goodness. The twins have been running rampant all day. Now they've stolen Bill's chess pieces and are tag teaming him."

"Frederick Gideon Weasley! George Fabian Weasley! Get down here this instant!" Hermione called loudly and sternly. Two cheeky little toddlers poked their heads around the door, flashing innocent smiles. "Where are your brother's chess pieces?" She glared at them.

George held out two small black pieces and Fred held out four white pieces. He could barely fit them all in his small pudgy fist.

"Give them back. Now!" She ordered. They glanced at each other and then toddled over to Bill and threw them all in his lap. "Now you will go to your room and stay there until I come and get you." She pointed a finger upstairs and they moved off quickly.

"That was amazing!" Alice stared in awe.

"I've met their type before." Hermione winked. Sirius and James both snorted with laughter. Once everyone was settled Alice asked if they were staying and they assured her they were. She decided to head back as she had left Neville with Frank's mother.

"You're gonna be such a great mom." Sirius beamed. Hermione looked startled.

"I will?"

"Of course. If you can handle those two any child of ours will be easy."

"O..O..Ours" This time she stumbled over her words. Sirius' grin widened.

"Of course. Have you not started planning them already?"

"I...Well...No of course not." She spluttered.

"I'm just messing." He smirked. She whacked him upside the head. A little while later, Hermione went upstairs to get the twins. She spoke to them about not aggravating their brothers and not stealing from them. They nodded solemnly but as soon as they thought she wasn't looking exchanged wicked grins. She sighed to herself. This was going to be a very long few days.

Remus apparated a few miles away from the campsite. As soon as he had time to gather his surroundings something felt very wrong. There were no sounds coming from the forest around him. No aminals. The air was dead still. No leaves rustled and the whole atmosphere was one of a dreadful event. Although it was middle of the summer, the day seemed dark and dreary. Remus made his way very quietly towards the campsite. Every twig he stepped on and every leaf that crunched seemed to echo all around. As he was moving much slower than usual it took him until near evening before he approached the site. His very breath seemed too loud and unnatural in the silence all around. Last time he had been able to hear the campsite a mile before he found it. Maybe that had moved on.

Then, he sniffed and the air was full of blood. As the campsite came into view all the air seemed to be squeezed out of his lungs. This was no longer a werewolf hideout. This was a site of slaughter. Bodies were strewn everywhere with limbs missing and blood pouring from many wounds. As he crept closer, Remus saw that he recognised some. As he broke clear of the trees he gasped, no longer caring if he was heard. Nearby, on a pole stuck in the ground, was Zayrin's head. Someone was sending a message. This must be retaliation for telling the Death Eaters they would not join them.

A quick scan told Remus that Thornton's body was not among the dead. He knew he had to get out of the area as quickly as possible but it just felt wrong to leave them all there. From the scent of the blood this was a recent killing. Last night at the very earliest. Remus bent down and touched one of the bodies and with a stab of horror realised it was still warm. He tried to apparate but couldn't. He strained his ears as he backed out of the clearing but he couldn't hear, smell or see anything. Fear was rising in his and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. On the other side of the clearing he suddenly spotted movement. A dark shape was coming towards him. He instinctively stumbled back so he was covered by trees. He tried again to apparate but once again nothing happened. Remus tried to wordlessly cast a stunning spell at the shape but it bounced off so the person must have been quick to get a shield up. That was worryingly impressive.

He didn't want to fight when the unknown person could have backup lying around anywhere. Every few steps back he tried to disapparate. The person was still moving towards him but very slowly. It was not attacking back yet still seemed incredibly menacing. As he took a final few steps backwards the figure suddenly sprung into action spurred on by some event unseen by Remus. Streaks of light came flying at him in quick succession. He dived to the side but before he could regain his bearings more figures apparated in around him so that he was surrounded. Thinking quickly, he threw some stunning spells at the three figures that had come up behind him and broke free of the circle. He ran as fast as he could in a zigzag so that he was harder to hit. Once he felt he was a safe distance away he spun on the spot amid cries calling for someone to catch him. Thankfully darkness swallowed him as he managed to apparate away.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18: Gringotts

Remus landed at his destination and fell to his knees, exhausted from running and disapparating under such pressure. Once he regained his breath, he did a quick check on himself and saw no parts of him missing so he had thankfully managed not to splinch himself, something Remus was rather grateful for. He pushed himself back to his feet and gingerly walked towards the Potter's cottage. All the lights appeared off, and once inside, he found nobody there. Maybe they were all still at the Weasley's. He apparated straight there and heard lots of noise coming from the Burrow. As Remus walked in the door, Sirius was the first to spot him, leaping to his feet and pulling him into a hug.

"Remus! You weren't supposed to be back yet." Lily exclaimed when she saw what had caused such excitement in Sirius.

"The camp is destroyed. Greyback." He didn't want to disclose more details with the children present. Harry was playing nicely with Ron and the twins were happily chatting in the corner. Hermione's hands flew to her mouth.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I got there after the battle. No one was left, although head of the camp wasn't among the dead." His voice was low.

"You'll need to report to Dumbledore." James sighed. "That's not good."

"I'm lucky Regulus warned me so I could get away." Sirius had never been more grateful to his brother.

"Speaking of him, Reg came through and delivered one hair of Rabastan LeStrange. We can get into Gringotts." Sirius informed them all.

"Hang on. Sirius are you still the heir to House Black or is Regulus the named heir?" James asked him.

"Mum disowned me but I don't think that my grandfather ever made it official. I never really gave a damn. Why?"

"If you became the head of House Black, you could disown Bellatrix and seize her vault." James grinned wickedly. "I forgot about that custom. Dad would never forgive me."

"James! That's brilliant!" Lily beamed.

"The only way to find out is to go to Gringotts and try the inheritance ritual to see if I can claim it." Sirius informed them.

"Well let's go then. I want to check on our vault anyway." James said.

"We need to wait until Molly and Arthur get home." Hermione interjected.

I never wanted to be the head of house. Way too much responsibility but I guess I don't have much choice now." Sirius looked a little perturbed at the idea of pushing his claim for a family that he had despised all his life. Hermione took his hand and nestled into his side trying to offer some comfort. "The Head of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black with a muggleborn girlfriend. My ancestors will be rolling in their graves." Sirius suddenly grinned wickedly.

James laughed loudly along with Remus. Both of them knew Sirius' family and exactly how they would react to such news.

"Now we just need to announce to the Wizengamot that the House of Black is officially allied with the House of Potter. That should turn some heads." Sirius grinned. James laughed even louder.

"That is prank of the year." The Marauders dissolved into laughter while the two witches looked on with faint amusement.

It was a fun few hours with the twins keeping things lively, annoying a different brother every half an hour or so. Finally Molly, Arthur and Gideon wandered in with Gideon holding Ginny and Arthur supporting his very tired looking wife. Lily immediately got up to help. Hermione had already begun preparing some food and was just setting the table.

"Thank you all for doing this." Arthur smiled around at them all.

"No problem." James returned the smile.

"They are a great set of kids." Hermione agreed with a slightly wistful grin. Once everybody had eaten, the decided to leave the family to get settled in.

"Feel free to call if you need anything." Lily assured Molly as they were leaving.

"Well, it's Percy's fifth birthday in just over a week. I'm sure the kids would love to see you at his party." Molly offered.

"That would be lovely."

"It's the 22nd."

"We'll be here." Hermione replied as Molly pulled her into a hug. "Can we use your floo Molly?"

"Of course, dear." The company quickly cast some glamour charms to disguise themselves as the Potter's were not supposed to be out in public and then flooed to The Leaky Cauldron where they then went on to Diagon Alley. Lily was carrying Harry who kept pointing at all the shops. James and Sirius dragged them all to Quality Quidditch Supplies. Harry was almost as excited as his father and godfather at the new Model of Silver Arrow that was out.

"No. You have enough broomsticks." Lily sighed, trying to shove her husband onto their main purpose for being out. She was nervous about being in such a public place even with glamours on. They finally gave in and allowed themselves to be pushed to Gringotts where Sirius suddenly straightened up and took on the profile of a pureblood lord. His whole demeanour changed drastically and James did the same. Together, the two strode past the guards with the others trailing behind. They approached a free goblin teller who looked at them with disdain.

"Yes?"

"I wish to speak with Accounts Manager Warfang." Sirius said haughtily.

"Identification?" He sounded bored. Sirius allowed his glamour charms to fall away and held out his wand. After a few seconds the goblin handed the wand back and quickly disappeared. He came back within minutes. "Please follow me." When they all moved he glared at the rest of the party. "Mister Black only." James looked at his friend, who nodded, and then held his arm out to the rest of the party. Sirius followed the goblin. They arrived at a door and the goblin ushered him in. Inside was a medium sized room with a desk in the centre and bookshelves on both sides. A large window was in the back wall behind the desk. At the desk sat a scowling goblin who suddenly looked up and welcomed Sirius in.

"How can I help today Mister Black?"

"I wish to do the inheritance ritual to claim the position as Lord Black." Sirius informed him. Warfang's eyes widened fractionally before he composed himself.

"Of course." He opened a drawer in his desk and drew out a silver bowl with striking carvings around the side. He then handed Sirius a small silver knife. Sirius stood with his hand over the bowl and sliced his palm. As the blood hit the bowl he took a deep breath.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, do hereby claim the position as Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black, so mote it be." The blood in the bowl bubbled and hissed as a silver serpent rose in the form of mist. Sirius felt a pressure in his mind like that of being exposed to legilimency and did not resist. After a few moments the pressure disappeared and the snake seemingly nodded and then, it too, disappeared. A large gold ring bearing the crest of the House of Black appeared on his right hand ring finger.

"It seems you have been accepted by the family magic. Congratulations Lord Black." Warfang bowed.

"Thank you Warfang. Please may we go over the Black finances."

"Indeed. The main Black family vault has 30,000,000 galleons, 356,743 sickles and 1,095,436 knuts in monetary value. There are also several heirlooms and many more artifacts including a vast array of books. Yourself and Regulus Black still have trust vaults although yours in locked by orders of the last Lord Black."

"Please unlock that vault and boost the amount to that of a traditional trust vault. It will be passed along to my firstborn."

"Yes sir."

"What properties so I still have?"

"You own 12 Grimmauld Place. You have one property in Wiltshire and the Black Family manor in Cheshire. Regulus Black currently resides in the other Black family property in London."

"Thank you Warfang. While we have the ritual bowl I need to formally dissolve the marriage between Bellatrix LeStrange nee Black and Rudolphus LeStrange as the marriage contract has not been fulfilled. No child has been had within the first five years of marriage. Then I will formally disown Bellatrix Black and seize all vaults and assets in her name."

"Very good, Lord Black." Warfang gestured back to the bowl. Sirius cut his palm again.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black hereby do dissolve the marriage between Bellatrix Cassiopeia LeStrange, nee Black, and Rudolphus LeStrange due to unfulfilled marriage contract and claim back any dowry given, so mote it be." The blood bubbled again and Sirius felt some kind of acknowledgement that the deed had been done.

"It is done." Warfang informed him. Another cut.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black hereby do cast out Bellatrix Cassiopeia Black from the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. May she never seek sanctuary of the House and any children she may have will never be welcomed into the House of Black. As Head of House Black I claim all assets for the House of Black. So mote it be." The blood bubbled happily for the third time. Sirius grinned to himself smugly.

"All seems to be in order, Lord Black. This action has increased your main vault by 1,785,987 galleons, 234,546 sickles and 34,565 knuts from the dowry and Bellatrix's personal vault. Many artifacts have also been transferred to your vault and hers has been closed. I wish to see my main vault now."

"Right this way, Lord Black." Warfang put the bowl away and then led the way out of his office back to the main room of Gringotts. Sirius gestured to his friends. They all came over.

"Would it be possible to visit the main Potter Vault?" James asked Warfang.

"Of course Lord Potter. Only four to a cart I'm afraid."

"I remember. Lils, Sirius and I will go down to the vaults. Do you, 'Mione and Remus want to go and grab anything you need? We will meet you at Fortescue's in an hour?"

"Ok, love." Lily kissed him as Hermione hugged Sirius and then they parted. Sirius told James in an undertone exactly what had happened. James looked ecstatic at Bellatrix being cast out. Soon they arrived at the Potter vault. They decided to go their first and get the horcrux after. James grabbed some galleons and a couple of books he had forgotten were down here. Once that was done they proceeded to the Black vault which was much further down. Inside, they waded through the mounds of money and other artifacts that was most likely cursed or had dark purposes. It took over fifteen minutes but Sirius finally found the cup and he magically lifted it into a magic suppressing bag he and James had created. Once he had the horcrux in their grasp, he then grabbed some money and they made their way back out. They couldn't resist stopped at the Quidditch store on the way to meet the others.

Once they arrived, Lily, Hermione, Remus and Harry were waiting for them, already eating ice creams. James flopped down beside Remus and took Harry from him while Sirius went to order them ice creams.

"It's all done and we have what we want." James informed them.

"That's wonderful." Lily beamed.

"That really was a great idea of yours James." Remus clapped him on the back.

"No need to sound quite so surprised Moony." James replied haughtily, but with a grin.

"Yes there is." Remus shot back with a matching grin. Just then Sirius came back with two ice creams.

"Ok Prongs. You can go and order yours now." He chuckled.

"Oi!" James tried to summon one but he was slightly over enthusiastic and it zoomed straight into his face. Everyone howled with laughter. Harry reached up and tried to swipe some of the ice cream off James face and eat it himself. A scowling James quickly cleaned his face and took the baby to get another one.

The party finally departed the Alley and disapparated back to the edge of the wards around the Potter's house in Godric's Hollow. Once inside Lily put Harry down for a nap while the others debated what to do with the cup. Sirius only had a small amount of Erumpent material left. It was decided they would take it to Hogwarts and destroy it there. Remus needed to report to Dumbledore anyway. James and Sirius would go with him. So all three of them left immediately. They flooed straight to the Headmasters office. Dumbledore was sat behind his desk in deep discussion with McGonagall.

"Sorry for the intrusion Professor." Remus said.

"Not to worry, dear boy, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Dumbledore smiled at them.

"We found another Horcrux." Sirius informed them, offering up the bag. "Hufflepuff's cup was in Bellatrix's vault."

"You broke into Gringotts?" McGonagall asked incredulously. Sirius grinned impishly.

"Nope. I took on the title of Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. I dissolved her marriage and disowned her, making her vaults mine. So I could easily go and retrieve it."

"That's an ingenious plan." McGonagall looked at him in astonishment. She knew how deeply Sirius had hated his family and this was a very unexpected move.

"I have some Erumpent material left but we decided it was safer to destroy the damn thing here than at the Potter's."

"Agreed. Feel free to use the room of requirement." Sirius and James then left while Remus remained to give his report. Every word he spoke caused Dumbledore's face to get graver. There was silence for a few minutes after he had finished.

"That is grave news indeed. This will cause many werewolves to think twice before denying Voldemort." Dumbledore rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"You did well Remus. This is an unfortunate setback but we cannot give up." Remus nodded. They discussed possible ways to fix the situation until James and Sirius came back looking a little pale but very smug.

"It is gone." James grinned. "Put up a bit of a fight but it is gone."

"That is wonderful news. Well done." McGonagall praised. The three boys said their farewells and returned to the cottage ready for a long nap after a very long day.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19: Gringotts**

Hermione and Lily were waiting for the three men to return, wanting to know if the cup had been destroyed. Once James confirmed that it had been they were all in a celebratory mood despite being incredibly tired. Sirius offered to put Harry to sleep while Lily cooked dinner. It was an unspoken rule that night to not discuss the one remaining horcrux. They all spent the evening in good cheer, chatting and laughing, managing to spend just a few hours pretending there was no war. Finally Sirius and Remus decided to head home while the others went upstairs to get some sleep.

When they woke up, they had the unpleasant surprise of Death Eaters standing in the road just beyond the protective wards. They were staring at a point just to the left of the house as they couldn't actually see the small cottage thanks to the Fidelius charm. James was just debating whether to go out and curse them until Sirius came crashing in through the fireplace. Spotting James by the window he moved over to see what he was looking at.

"You too. Remus and I saw a few Death Munchers outside our flat this morning."

"Why now though?" James asked. Sirius looked thoughtful and then blinked, scowling in annoyance.

"Of course. I disowned Bellatrix yesterday and she must have reported it to Voldemort. He would know what was in her vault. Maybe he knows that we know he has horcruxes."

"In that case he might make more before we can get the diary!" James exclaimed frantically. "Can you not do the same to Narcissa?"

"I could but I don't think it would help. The diary will be in Lucius Malfoy's vault and I can't seize that even if I dissolve their marriage."

"Damn." James cursed just as Remus came gracefully through the fire. Sirius quickly filled him in and he soon looked rather grim. "Can you not claim it as part of the dowry you claimed back?"

"No. And I don't technically have a reason to dissolve their marriage. They have produced a child within the time limits." Sirius groaned in aggravation. It seemed they would have to break into Gringotts.

"Wait, Malfoy was caught at the attack on Hogsmeade a while back. Knowing the Ministry his trial won't have been held yet. Malfoy will have paid someone off to delay it as long as possible. Maybe, as an Auror I can get permission to check his vault for illegal items."

"That's a much better plan than breaking into Gringotts." Hermione said, coming into the room and making all three of them jump. "But I would speak to Dumbledore first. He can probably speak to Mad-Eye and get him to approve the mission, telling him it's Order business. We don't necessarily need to say exactly what we are looking for."

"That's brilliant." James grinned. "Siri, we best get to Hogwarts."

"Do not call me Siri!" Hissed Sirius. James simply flashed an innocent smile and disappeared through the fire. His best mate followed quickly, leaving Remus and Hermione shaking their heads in amusement. Lily then came downstairs with Harry, so the duo explained where her husband had gone.

"Thank goodness. I was really worried they would try to break into Gringotts." Lily sighed in relief.

"It's not so bad." Hermione grinned.

"Oh really? Because your attempt went so well." Remus retorted sarcastically, but he was smiling wryly.

"We got what we were after." Hermione defended.

"And plenty of attention, the anger of the Goblins and the ire of Voldemort." He countered.

"Yes, well…" She trailed off with a sheepish expression. Remus smiled smugly. He then took Harry and started playing with the toddler on the floor while Hermione and Lily sunk into the couch watching with a smile. They stayed like that until James and Sirius returned grinning broadly.

"He agreed. The story we are going to give Moody is that there is an item in Malfoy's vault that is fundamental in bringing down Voldemort but we won't tell him exactly what. Then Dumbledore will suggest that I go with him as Fabian is dead and Gideon won't be in a fit state of mind." Sirius informed the room at large as he settled down next to Hermione.

"That's great. Any ideas when?" Remus asked.

"Within the next few days. But then Moody will need departmental permission. We can't just go on this kind of raid without telling the Ministry, especially as we are doing it in our position of Aurors."

"Well if Malfoy gets wind of it he will probably try and bribe someone to stop this happening. He must know what will happen to him if Voldemort finds out that he let someone take another Horcrux." James looked concerned.

"True, but there isn't really a lot we can do about this. We need Ministry permission or Gringotts probably won't even let us near the vault."

"So we have a few days off."

"Well, it will be Percy Weasley's birthday soon. Maybe we can go and visit in the next few days." Hermione suggested. Everyone agreed that this was a good idea. They kept themselves amused for the next two days. With Death Eaters on the front door it was even more unsafe for Lily and James to be outside, so they contented themselves with dedicating more time to just enjoy having Harry. With all the craziness going on they had both been spending less time with their son than previously. Of course Hermione, Sirius and Remus had been about often enough to keep the baby happy but they still appreciated a little time as a small family. This had caused Hermione to spend a lot of time at the flat, something Remus pretended to complain about, that he shouldn't have to see such things in his own home, when he caught them kissing on the couch one evening.

One morning the group were sat around the Potter's kitchen table enjoying a nice breakfast when they heard someone arriving using the fireplace. Dumbledore came into the already crowded kitchen with a smile on his face.

"Good morning Albus, this is an unexpected surprise." Lily smiled, getting up to make some more food.

"That's quite alright Lily, the house elves have already seen to my breakfast." He smiled gently. "I thought you all might like to know that the Ministry have just approved Alastor's request to search Malfoy's vault."

"That's wonderful. When do we go?" Sirius grinned.

"This afternoon. You will meet Alastor at the Ministry at 2pm."

"Yes, sir." He nodded. With that, Dumbledore took his leave. Everyone looked around the room excitedly. This was the last horcrux. Once this was gone Voldemort would be mortal again. Of course, nobody was stupid enough to expect it to be easy, he was still a dangerously skilled wizard but it was no longer impossible. They just hoped he didn't make any more between now and being able to kill him. This was the tipping point. Lucius would obviously be notified of the raid, it depended on if he realised what was taken. Of course he would inform Voldemort about the revelation, who would understand the importance. This led to the question of whether he would go about protecting the others that were no longer there, or just create more that they would have no way of finding. Sirius wanted to go there and then but that was impossible. He started pacing which then annoyed everyone else.

"Stop arguing." Hermione interjected as James and Sirius snipped at each other. "Everyone is tense but you need to stop taking it out on each other." They both stared at her.

"You're right. Sorry Padfoot." James looked abashed.

"Yeah, sorry Prongs." Sirius nodded. Lily looked over gratefully at Hermione who returned her smile. It calmed them all down and they passed the rest of the morning playing exploding snap or wizards chess. Harry found it hilarious whenever the cards exploded in someone's face, seemingly taking particular glee if it happened to Sirius, something everyone did notice with a smile. Soon it was time for Sirius to head to Diagon Alley. He gave Hermione a one armed hug and a kiss on the side of her head before going through the floo back to his flat to change into his auror robes. Once done he apparated to the Ministry.

Striding through the auror office, he spotted Moody standing by his cubicle with his usual scowl in place.

"You're late Black." He grunted. Sirius looked over at the clock and raised an eyebrow. It was indeed one minute past two.

"My apologies Sir." He replied. At work he did have to maintain some semblance of respect for his elders, even if that did change at Order meetings.

"Don't let it happen again." Moody scowled. "Let's go." He led the way out of the office and back towards the Atrium. From there they took the floo to the Leaky Cauldron. Sirius came spinning out of the fireplace just in time to see Moody righting himself, having obviously stumbled on his prosthetic leg. Hiding a smirk at his own graceful appearance out of the flames, Sirius then followed his mentor up the cobblestone street. He could easily picture the twins shop just as Hermione described, but found it much harder to imagine the bustling street nearly empty and quiet as was its future unless they succeeded in their mission. He continued up towards the white building with renewed determination. They passed the threshold ignoring the Goblin guards on either side and strode straight to the closest available teller.

"We are here to search the Malfoy vault." Moody said without preamble, handing over a scroll with the Ministry seal on. The goblin looked insulted.

"The Malfoys are very big clients." He replied haughtily.

"I have authorisation from the MInister of Magic." Moody scowled. The goblin read the note with a frown.

"One moment please." Then he got down from his seat and hurried out the back of the room. Moody let out a huff of breath in irritation. Sirius tried to keep his face passive but he too was annoyed. They both wanted this done as quickly as possible. It was another few minutes before the goblin came back with another in tow.

"You wish to enter the vault of one of our biggest clients?" The new goblin enquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. We have reason to believe he is hiding a dark artifact in there. We have authorisation from the Minister himself." Moody growled. The goblins both scowled back at him. Then the senior goblin took the scroll and studied it carefully, checking for forgeries. When he found none, he nodded to the junior teller and stalked off.

"All seems to be in order. This way please." The goblin muttered resentfully. He led them to the carts and they sped off into the darkness. It took a few minutes to arrive at a platform and they all got out of the cart. "Vault 057." The goblin called as he went to open the door. The stepped inside and Sirius groaned quietly. It could easily take them all day to search through this vault. Mounds and mounds of coins were piled towards the back of the large cavern. Suits of armour and other valuable items were scattered all over the left hand side while the right was devoted to gems and chests with the odd family portrait in and around. Both aurors made their way towards the artifacts.

"Right we want a book. It'll be a blank diary." Sirius informed Moody.

"A book? A single book in all of this?" Moody's eyes flashed in irritation. Dumbledore had not told him it would be such an impossible task. Sirius just shrugged and moved over to an ancient looking bookcase while Moody looked over at one further back. The bookshelf was covered in numerous books on dark arts, most of which also resided in the Black library, so Sirius recognised a lot of the titles as books no decent person would read. Nothing seemed to match Hermione's description though even after he searched every shelf with a fine toothcomb. Sighing he moved on to the next one.

It was a good half an hour later before Sirius let out an exclamation of delight. He had found the plain black book with 'Property of T M Riddle' stamped on the back. Moody looked up at him having been immersed in one of the books.

"Found it Black?"

"Yes."

"Now, let's grab some of the other stuff that we should confiscate anyway so we have something to report. I'll take that lot back to the office and catalogue it while you take the blasted book to Albus." Moody said. Sirius nodded and began grabbing items that were either illegal to possess or deemed dark artifacts and illegal to use but not officially illegal to possess. Once all the goods were put into a magically extended bag, they made their way back up to the surface and out into the sunlit alley with the goblins watching them suspiciously all the way. Back at the inn, they went their separate ways. Moody to the Ministry and Sirius to Hogwarts.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Decisions

Sirius stepped gracefully out of the fireplace into the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts to find it empty. Fawkes was in his usual place upon his perch and the portraits watched him with interest, but the headmaster's chair was empty. He frowned to himself and looked up at the portrait of Armando Dippet.

"Do you know where Albus is?"

"No afraid not dear boy. The Headmaster left the office about an hour ago and has not returned." Dippet replied in his dreary voice that reminded Sirius of Binns. Just as he was considering his options Dumbledore himself strode into the room. Spotting Sirius his face turned grave and he sat down in his chair quickly, motioning for Sirius to do the same.

"Did you get it"?

"Yes." Sirius held up the innocent looking book. "That's the last one." He breathed, trying to believe that they had done it. Thank god for Hermione he thought, making a mental note to show her his proper thanks later. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled for a second and then his stern face returned.

"Believe it or not this may be the easiest part of our task. Voldemort may be mortal but he is certainly a skilled dueller as are most of his inner circle." Dumbledore warned.

"I know." Sirius let out a breath. "I just want this to be over."

"Don't we all." The older wizard's reply was heavy and full of weariness. "I take it you will destroy it here."

"I'm out of erumpent horn material. I need to order some more or find a new way but I thought it probably safest to leave it here at Hogwarts."

"That may be true. However time is of the essence more so than ever. We will go to the room of requirement and I will use fiendfyre." Dumbledore looked older than he ever had before but determination radiated off of him. Without a pause, Sirius stood up and led the way up to the seventh floor corridor. He had no idea what to expect from the room as he asked for a place to safely destroy a horcrux. What he got was a large cavern type room. It looked scarily like the cave the locket had been in except no water and no inferi. In the middle was a plinth on which stood a large bowl. As they approached they saw that it was empty. Sirius placed the diary inside cautiously. Nothing seemed to happen for a few seconds until, suddenly. A golden light spread upwards forming a dome above the bowl. Sirius reached to pick the book back up but his hand would not pass through the light. Dumbledore smiled and held out his wand. His spell merely bounced off the dome and crashed into the cave ceiling. They both frowned, considering this development. Then Dumbledore seemed to come to some kind of conclusion and pushed his wand towards the barrier. The tip passed right through. Here he concentrated and began murmuring the incantation for the magical fire.

After a few seconds flames sprung from the tip of the elder wand and the book instantly caught fire. It let out a pained shriek and Sirius moved back. Dumbledore ended the spell and pulled his wand out of the dome before joining Sirius a few steps back. They watched, fascinated as the fire licked at the book that was still screaming and rose up the sides of the golden dome but no further. With one last scream, the book completely disintegrated into a pile of ash and the fire went out as the door fell in on itself, seemingly acting like a fire blanket. Both men carefully approached the bowl and saw nothing but ashes. Neither of them seemed inclined to touch it. Instead Dumbledore magically levitated the ashes into a magic suppressing bag just in case. Once it had been put back in Dumbledore's robes, Sirius let out a triumphant yell.

"We did it!"

"Indeed we did." Dumbledore replied looked at him amusedly. They exited the room and Sirius used the Headmaster's fireplace to floo back to the Potter's cottage. Everyone was waiting for him impatiently. As soon as he stepped onto their carpet he felt arms fling around him and embrace him into a rib cracking hug.

"Hi 'Mione." He grinned.

"You took your time." She mumbled into his neck where she was resting her head. Sirius shivered slightly where her warm breath met his skin but quickly pulled himself together.

"I'm sorry. The Malfoy vault isn't exactly small you know."

"Useless." James commented with a smirk from his place on the couch, holding Harry. Lily smacked him upside the head but he didn't seem much bothered by this. Sirius sat down next to Remus on the floor with Hermione still nestled into his shoulder and then began to recount what had happened. He had just got the the point where the dome appeared when there was a loud crack that had them all springing to their feet reaching for wands. The next thing anyone heard was loud sobs. In the centre of the circle they had formed was a distraught Kreacher. He was sobbing and hiccupping nonstop.

"Kreacher?" Sirius cried out in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"M..m..master Regulus." Kreacher stuttered through his crying. It felt like an icy fist had gripped Sirius' heart.

"What happened to Reg? Is he ok? Kreacher answer me dammit!" Sirius had leant forward and now gripped the rag Kreacher wore.

"Sirius!" Hermione pulled him off Kreacher. "Calm down."

"The bad men. They came and took Master. Theys be saying the Dark Lord wanted to talk to him." They all paled at the news. Had Voldemort found out Regulus was helping them?

"Did they say what he wanted?" Hermione asked in a kinder tone than Sirius. Kreacher glared at her through his bloodshot eyes.

"Mudblood bes speaking to Kreacher." He grumbled.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Sirius thundered. "And answer her question." Kreacher threw a glare at Sirius.

"Kreacher not be knowing." He said sullenly. "Master Regulus managed to get message to Kreacher to be telling Master's brother. Oh poor Master Regulus." Kreacher broke into a fresh round of tears. Sirius was looking at the elf, horrified. He'd only just got his brother back. He couldn't lose him. Not now. He looked up at Hermione like he expected her to know what to do, forgetting they were now in unknown territory as this world was very different from the one Hermione came from.

She knelt down beside where he had fallen to his knees and gripped his shoulders. Staring deep into his eyes, she made sure he was definitely listening.

"We will find him Sirius. I promise we will find him. But we need a plan." Sirius seemed to shake out of his nightmare at her words. His tense body suddenly relaxed and he slumped against his girlfriend.

"Right, we don't know why Riddle wanted Regulus but given that he sent men to take him away rather than summon him with the mark means we need to assume the worst." James started, looking grave. "We also don't know where Riddle is using as his headquarters. Can't believe I'm saying this, but we need Snape." Everyone gaped at him except Lily who looked proud.

"What?" Sirius looked up at his brother in all but blood.

"He is close to Regulus, on our side and the only person we know other than Regulus who knows where Riddle is hiding." James explained patiently.

"But how can we get hold of him in time? Regulus needs us now, an owl would be too slow." Hermione queried.

"Patronus is out too, it needs to be something sneaky because we don't know where he is right now." Remus put in.

"Kreacher." Sirius called. The house-elf looked up. "We need you to take a message to Severus Snape. We need to know where Riddle has Reg. In fact, bring Snape here if you can but do not be seen by anybody. If he is with Riddle then wait until he is alone. Understand? This could save Regulus." The elf nodded, hiccuping gently and then disapparated. There was nothing left to do now but wait. It could be hours before Snape was alone but nobody dared go anywhere lest they miss the elf's return. Sirius remained on his knees in Hermione's embrace, not even attempting to get up. She slowly eased him onto the couch and sat beside him offering any comfort she could. James was pacing the room, tension in every muscle.

It was a few hours before Kreacher popped back in. He was alone.

"Where is Sniv...Snape." Sirius bit out immediately.

"Snape is being with the dark lord. Kreacher listened to their conversation. Master Regulus is at Malfoy Manor."

"Good work Kreacher." Sirius managed. The elf promptly disappeared. "We need a plan." As he turned to his girlfriend he saw she had gone white as a sheet. It was then he remembered what she had told them about what happened to her at Malfoy manor back in her time. He cursed fate as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her tight against him.

"We can't do this alone." Lily pointed out. "There simply isn't enough of us to storm Malfoy Manor."

"Our animagus forms could help us get close. I imagine a lot of the protections don't include animals because they will have plenty on their grounds." James offered.

"No. Pettigrew will have told them all by now about your forms." Hermione sighed. They all swore loudly.

"The Order. It's our only hope." Remus said.

"There is no time! Regulus could be dead any minute now." Sirius snapped.

"And you getting killed before you get close to him is not going to help him out." Hermione retorted. "Look, to get to the prison cells there you have to go through the main living room."

"My invisibility cloak!" James exclaimed.

"That might work but it will only cover one maybe two of you." Lily interjected. "And you need a way to get inside anyway."

"Many old mansions have old passageways that were built in case of a need to escape, but we don't really have time to find any of theirs. We need to speak to Dumbledore."

"James is right, Sirius." Hermione saw her boyfriend about to argue and stopped him. "I know how much you want to go and save Regulus, but don't be reckless, it didn't do you much good in the future." She knew it was a low blow but it was the only way she could think to keep him safe. It would kill her if he died trying to be reckless. Again. He looked out her, outraged, and then his face fell into acceptance. They all headed straight to the fireplace and flooed to Dumbledore's office. He looked rather surprised.

"What can I do for you all?"

"Riddle has Regulus held at Malfoy Manor. He is using the place as his base." Hermione informed the headmaster. He frowned.

"You wish to mount a rescue I assume."

"Of course we do! He is my brother!"

"I see. The final battle approaches. I will assemble the Order." He sighed heavily and then waved his wand, sending numerous ghostly phoenixes out of the window. They all slumped into chairs except Sirius who had been filled with energy and now paced around the office. "What of Severus?"

"We sent Kreacher to him with a message but he has been with Riddle. Kreacher overheard them talking about Malfoy Manor which is how we know, but we have been unable to get hold of Severus." Lily answered for everyone.

"He is the best to give us information about the inside of Malfoy Manor. Could the elf bring him to us? Dumbledore queried. "If his cover is not blown yet, it will be soon."

"Could Kreacher not get Regulus? If he can get in and out of Malfoy Manor, surely he can get Regulus? I can't believe we didn't think of this sooner." Sirius yelped.

"Of course. Dobby got Luna and Ollivander out so their cells don't have elf wards on." Hermione blurted out.

"Kreacher will only be able to get one of the two out. If he fetches Severus, Riddle will no doubt expect him to come back for his Master and Regulus will be under extensive guard. If he fetches Regulus, Severus will remain by Voldemort's side. Even an elf will not be able to get in and disapparate out in time." Dumbledore mused.

"Regulus. Obviously." Sirius snorted like there was no choice to be made. Lily looked like she wanted to protest but no words came from her open mouth. She seemed to be at war with herself. Everybody was silent. After a few seconds, Sirius called Kreacher and ordered him to bring Regulus to him there at Hogwarts. In the time that he was gone Marlene McKinnon, Gideon Prewett, Mad Eye Moody, Elphias Doge and a few others came into the Headmaster's office.

"What's up Dumbledore?" Marlene asked.

"We have received intelligence that Tom Riddle, otherwise known as Voldemort, is hiding out in Malfoy Manor. He has taken Regulus Black, a spy for our side, prisoner. We hope that his loyal House-Elf will be able to get him out as Riddle is known for underestimating such creatures. This is our opportunity to launch a full scale assault and end this war." James started with half a glance at Sirius. There were a lot of murmurs around the room at this. The majority of which came from the portraits. "If Kreacher is successful in getting Regulus out he will have plenty of information about the lay out of Malfoy Manor and its weak points." He added at the dubious looks. After all, an assault of the Manor was seemingly insane especially with Voldemort himself inside.

"If we have the chance to end this, we should take it." Gideon spoke up from the silence. "We know where he is, and we can get good knowledge of the building that we probably won't get if he moves bases." As they were speaking there was a loud pop and Kreacher appeared supporting a half conscious Regulus Black. Sirius cried out and slid to his brother's side. Then he heaved him up and carried him from the room calling over his shoulder.

"I'm taking him to the hospital wing."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Malfoy Manor

Nobody argued as Sirius left the room with his brother. Gideon turned to Dumbledore and they began to draw up plans. There weren't as many as they would have liked but there simply wasn't time to alert the Aurors. Marlene suggested sending them a message anyways, a second wave of reinforcements could potentially turn the tide that would undoubtedly be against them. There was nodding around the room and Dumbledore sent a patronus message to the head of the DMLE and they began discussing how effective a full frontal assault would be.

"Not very." James frowned.

"We don't know how many death munchers he has in there with him. Lucius and Narcissa are pretty much guaranteed as it is their house, meaning Bellatrix will likely be there too." Remus pointed out.

"There are many wards around Malfoy Manor and it will take time to dismantle them." Dumbledore spoke up. "Even with all of us working together, we have no curse breakers amongst us." Hermione suddenly wished Bill Weasley were older.

"I studied a little about curse breaking but not enough for what I imagine will be around the Manor." Hermione admitted.

"That's a start." James tried to make her feel better.

"We don't have long before they notice Regulus is missing. We need to talk to him now and get information on numbers. I still think dismantling the wards is the best option in regards to an attack." Marlene interjected.

"Agreed." Gideon smiled but there was no warmth in the expression. "I recommend a small task force goes ahead to begin trying to pull down the wards and then…"

"What if we just had House Elves apparate us behind the ward lines?" Lily suggested.

"That is a good idea in principle but some of the wards will be tied to the very fabric of the house and so will still need to be pulled down." Moody spoke for the first time. "I would also imagine that as soon as any attempt were made to bring down the wards Malfoy would be notified."

"Well then we need some people inside the wards to create a distraction, some to bring down the wards and everyone else to be reinforcements for when the real battle starts." Elphias Doge summed up.

"Let us speak with Regulus." Dumbledore closed the matter and they all made their way to the hospital wing. As they arrived they saw Madam Pomfrey fussing over a slightly healthier looking Regulus and an almost frantic Sirius bouncing up and down unable to help. He looked up when the doors open and frowned, knowing what they were here for. Regulus had looked up as well and took his brothers hand in his own.

"You need information." He stated. Dumbledore nodded. "I don't know much. Four of them came to the house and said Voldemort needed to speak to me. I knew he had been suspecting me for a little while so this could not be good. I managed to hold them off long enough to get a message to Kreacher but they overpowered me and took me to Malfoy Manor cells. Bellatrix was waiting for me there and told me she knew I was a traitor, laying into me for disgracing the family name. Kinda like everyone in the family did to Sirius when he got put in Gryffindor."

"I knew we were related...deep down." Sirius tried for a joke but it fell slightly flat given the anger bleeding through his tone.

"Then she left telling me the Dark Lord would be down to speak with me soon. On average there are usually between six and ten people in the house unless there is a big meeting. Lucius and Narcissa are almost always home since Lucius' escape from the Ministry along with Rowle. Bellatrix, her husband and his brother have taken to living there as well now that the Dark Lord is using it as his base."

"Malfoy and Lestrange escaped?" Dumbledore frowned.

"Yeah, apparently they both got away with Rowle just before they came to bring me to the manor." Regulus sighed.

"Just brilliant." James snapped. "Because we needed life to get harder. Alright, Sirius, we have decided to have House Elves transport us beyond the wards of Malfoy Manor while a small task force brings down the wards. Everyone else will come in once the wards are destroyed as wonderful backup."

"Good plan. I'll go in the distraction team." Sirius offered straight away. James looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"Well you aren't going without me." James put his hand on Sirius' shoulder.

"Or me." Remus grinned.

"I'll go too. I think between the four of us we can cause a little mayhem." Gideon offered with a slightly mischievous grin.

"Yes, you would know all about causing trouble." McGonagall tried for a snort of amusement but it didn't quite come out right in her worry for her favourite students.

"You're going nowhere without me James Potter." Lily spoke up.

"Lily…" James began.

"No. I can't be anywhere than by your side."

"What about Harry? He can't lose both his parents." James argued back. "We both know how that turns out." He added quietly so that only she could hear him. Lily recoiled at his words as if he had slapped her but looked at him defiantly.

"James. I don't want to leave Harry either, but I can't just sit at home and wait to hear whether you lived or died." She sobbed.

"I know love. But it's too high a risk. Our job is going to be risky enough causing a distraction. This isn't going to be easy and none of us can guarantee coming out of this alive and I can't leave Harry with no parents or godfather." Lily looked like she was about to argue some more until Alice Longbottom stepped forwards.

"I don't like this either Lily, but we can't leave our kids. You can come back to the manor with me and Neville while we wait." Lily's eyes flickered between Alice and her husband uncertainly.

"We'll look out for him Lily. James will come home." Sirius gave her a lopsided grin. With that she relented in poor grace and agreed to go with Alice. James heaved a huge sigh of relief and pulled her into a huge hug, whispering in her ear. Hermione moved over to Sirius, who hadn't left Regulus' side and hugged him.

"Ok, you four will be taken inside the wards and create a distraction. I will go and attempt to bring down the wards." Dumbledore tried to give the couple some privacy.

"I will go with you." Hermione offered. She wanted to be beside Sirius, to make sure he came out alive, but knew she was one of the few with any curse breaking experience and she needed to be with Dumbledore. Sirius looked like he wanted to argue, but then realised he would prefer that to her insisting she came with him so he did nothing but kiss her forehead.

"I will come with you as well Professor." Marlene broke in. Dumbledore nodded.

"Three should be sufficient. Alastor, you will lead the reinforcements in once the wards are broken." Moody nodded silently. "We will send up red sparks once the wards are down."

"Why aren't we going to just be waiting with you and spot as soon as you finish?" Someone asked.

"Because a large number at the gates of Malfoy Manor will be noticed, even with a distraction. We need small numbers to remain unnoticed amongst the chaos I'm sure will ensue." He gave the troublemakers a wink. They all grinned wickedly. "Very well, good luck to everyone. You should leave now. We will give you a two minute head start and then begin bringing down the wards." The four boys nodded. James gave a final kiss to Lily then turned to Hermione who had just finished kissing Sirius. They hugged and exchanged words of warning. Hermione then hugged Remus and even Gideon wishing them all the best and to be careful. They then summoned Kreacher and were gone. Hermione turned to Lily who was crying.

"They'll be ok. If anyone can cause trouble and get away with it, it's those four." This made Lily give a choked laugh and they embraced. Lily then went to fetch Harry and Alice left with her after exchanging a goodbye with Frank and Hermione. Dumbledore stood by the hospital wing door looking grim. Hermione and Marlene were about to make their way over when McGonagall came over and brought Hermione into a hug and telling her to stay safe. Despite having not taught her yet, the elder women knew Hermione was one of her favourite students.

A few minutes later, Hermione, Dumbledore and Marlene called a second house elf who apparated them just outside of Malfoy Manor. Through the gates they could see flashes of light in the windows of the manor and hear lots of yelling. The trio quickly began casting diagnostic spells and started breaking down the wards as fast as they could. Between Hermione's knowledge, Dumbledore's sheer power and Marlene's ingenuity they took down all wards in less than fifteen minutes, meanwhile trying to ignore the screams coming from the manor. Once the wards were down Hermione sent up red sparks for reinforcements and the night air was broken by the cracks of apparition. Once everyone was there they set up anti transportation wards so the Death Eaters could not disapparate.

Dumbledore and Moody led the charge towards Malfoy Manor with Amelia Bones right behind. Hermione was shocked to see Regulus with the reinforcement group looking pale but determined. With no time to question him she made a mental note to keep an eye on him. They blew the front doors right off the hinges and made their way towards the source of the commotion. Hermione charged into the lead and blasted open the door to the drawing room. Inside James, Sirius and Gideon were backed into a corner ferociously duelling Bellatrix, Lucius, Rudolphus and Rabastan. Voldemort, Narcissa and Remus were nowhere to be seen. Instinctively firing spells at the Death Eaters, Hermione moved further into the room. She took out Rudolphus from behind with a severing charm to his neck before the other six realised people had arrived. The sight of reinforcements invigorated the three mischief makers and the duel reached new heights.

"Filthy mudblood." Bellatrix shrieked upon sight of Hermione. Her voice triggered Hermione's memories of the future to come flooding back. The scar on her arm began to burn as if being made a second time and her vision swam. In the second that her wand arm lowered she was hit by a red spell. Pain. Nothing but pain. She screamed. Screamed again. Her voice was growing hoarse when suddenly it stopped. Her vision returned and she stumbled to her feet, breathing heavily. Sirius was in front of her his face thunderous. Bellatrix lay on the floor unmoving but it was unclear whether she was dead or not. A jet of green light was flying towards the pair and Hermione knew she would never get a warning out on time. She closed her eyes waiting for impact before being bodily thrown sideways. There was a crash and a thump as Sirius landed on top of her as he was the one who had been pushed, knocking her over.

"Sirius! Sirius!" She screamed, completely unaware of what was happening in the battle raging around her. He didn't respond. Her vision narrowed to the man lying beside her as she continued crying out his name to no avail. It took her a few moments to register the blood trickling from a wound on his head where it had hit the table they had been thrown into. It was then that she realised he was breathing. He was only knocked out. Reaching for her wand she revived him.

"'Mione?" He croaked.

"I'm here. I'm here." She clutched him to her in relief. The couple helped each other to their feet and returned to the battle.

Meanwhile James had watched his brother in all but blood take down Bellatrix in a fit of rage before charging to Hermione's side. His attention was soon claimed back by Lucius Malfoy as the reinforcements were busy holding up other Death Eaters who had turned up. Voldemort still had yet to make an appearance in the room. The duel was fierce and evenly matched. They ducked and weaved through the battle throwing taunts back and forth. Eventually James' attention faltered when he heard Hermione scream Sirius' name in panic. He turned his head only to be brought back as Gideon yanked him out of the way of the killing curse. Cursing himself, he redoubled his efforts and caught Lucius with a stunning spell to the chest.

"Well, well." An ice cold voice rang out behind him. James whirled around and Voldemort was standing in the doorway, wand in one hand, Remus floating in front of him not moving. "I've been expecting you to come and rescue your friend." He said in a disappointed voice.

"So sorry not to live up to you expectations." James spat. He knew he could not afford to lose concentration here. Gideon stood beside him as the rest of the battle was turning in their favour. Sheer numbers were winning out thanks to the Aurors Amelia Bones had called in on such short notice.

"Move and the werewolf dies." Voldemort said spotting James' hand twitching. "Although, such scum should die anyway." He released the spell holding Remus up and he dropped to the floor like a puppet who had had his strings cut. With a strangled cry, James and Gideon leapt forward in unison, casting every spell they could think of. Voldemort countered the both easily. James felt rather than saw someone appear on his other side and Hermione's voice joined the other two in casting spells as three were now duelling the dark lord. Still he held his own, flicking his wand almost lazily as he forced them to back up towards the middle of the room. The three of them began to move faster, trying not to slip on the blood that stained the floor. A jet of red light and Gideon was down, screaming on the floor. Voldemort could only hold the curse for seconds as he was forced to defend himself but it was enough to put the fighters down to two.

Hermione and James fought their hardest but Voldemort had been able to stand against three, against two the battle turned in his favour and they were forced to defend more often than attack. By a stroke of luck James caught his wand arm with another cutting curse but couldn't cause enough damage to force him to drop his wand. Gideon was back on his feet looking exhausted but threw himself back into the battle, only to be hit from behind by a dying Lucius who had recovered from being stunned but been hit by something else. Gideon was down again but this time lay unmoving. Sirius quickly came in to take his place having been caught up fighting the remaining LeStrange brother. James stood with Hermione and Sirius on either side trying to ignore the fatigue that was setting in as spells flew from all four wands. He silently cast Levicorpus and caught the Dark Lord by surprise as he defended against Hermione. In the seconds it took for Voldemort to right himself James thought of his wife and son. Visions of an eleven year old Harry walking onto the Kings Cross station platform by himself filled his mind.

"Avada Kedavra." He yelled. Green light blasted from his wand and struck Voldemort straight in the chest. There was a single second where time froze. An expression of confusion and terror filled his snake like face and then he fell. There was a loud thump that filled the now silent room as the body of Lord Voldemort hit the floor and lay still. Another second of silence and then cries of joy mingled with screams of sorrow as every single person in the room registered that he was dead. For good. Arms were around him. Hermione, Sirius and then McGonagall and Marlene. None of this mattered quite yet to James. He wriggled free and dived towards the still unmoving body of Remus Lupin.

"Remus! Wake up. We did it. It's over!" James shook his friend's shoulders. Nothing happened. Sirius fell to his knees by James' side and together they tried to revive their friend. After a few moments his eyelids flickered. Eyes open he seemed not to know where he was and then suddenly he screamed. Frantically James looked him over and finally spotted the burns on his friends chest.

"We need help. He's been burned with silver." Sirius cried. Marlene came running forwards.

"We need to get him to St Mungo's." She said quickly. Calling out a name, a house elf appeared and then disapparated with Remus and Marlene immediately after.

"I'm going with them." James announced.

"You can't. We are needed here to help the other injured. Remus is in good hands." Hermione told him. "I've already sent a patronus message to Lily and Alice."

"Thank you." Sirius muttered and then stood, helping James to his feet. Everyone was no longer in celebratory mood. The Aurors were collecting the remaining alive Death Eaters to be taken back to the Ministry and the Order were helping the wounded. The trio made their way through the bodies and over to Gideon. He had yet to wake up but the healer tending to him assured them he would live. It was then Sirius spotted his brother. Regulus was lying on the floor, face down where Hermione had been when Bellatrix hit her with the Cruciatus curse. She realised it had been him who pushed her and Sirius out of the way. Neither James or Hermione needed to hear Sirius' scream of pain and rage to realise that Regulus Black was dead. He died saving his brothers life.

"You stupid idiot. You were too sick. You shouldn't have even been here." Sirius sobbed, cradling the body to his chest. "I just got you back." Hermione sat beside him and they cried together for a very long time.


	22. Chapter 22

Epilogue

"Hurry up James." Lily called, while striding down the platform at King's Cross station. Her nine year old daughter, Rachel Hermione Potter was clinging to her hand, while her husband and son were lagging behind.

"We're coming." James called back. The family of four hurried to the barrier and leaned casually against it. Once on the platform they began to wade through the usual chaos of Platform 9 ¾.

"They are coming aren't they?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Of course dear. You know they wouldn't miss seeing you off for the first time." Lily replied soothingly.

"What about Uncle Remy?" Rachel asked.

"Remus can't be here. He has to get to Hogwarts before it starts remember." Lily reminded her daughter.

"Remember to give Moony a hard time for old times sake." James grinned down at Harry.

"James! Don't encourage him to mess around in his lessons." Lily said, smacking his arm.

"Sorry dear." James said, while winking at Harry behind his wife's back. Harry hid a snigger from his mother. "Look, there they are!" James added, pointed at three figures, standing halfway down the platform, just visible through the hustle and bustle.

"About time too." Lily cried, looking at the giant clock at one end of the platform. They only had ten minutes before the train left.

"There's my favourite godson!" Sirius called as he approached and pulled Harry into a tight hug.

"I'm your only godson." Harry replied, rolling his eyes.

"So. You're still my favourite." Sirius grinned.

"Hey Reg." James beamed down at the young boy who was grinning cheekily at Rachel. He looked up at James.

"Hey Uncle Jamie." He replied. He had longish, dark, curly hair that flopped in his chocolate brown eyes. Regulus Remus Black was Sirius and Hermione's only child. He had the regal, good looks of the Black line combined with his mother's softer features and eyes. His eyes sparkled with mischievousness that could only come from his father. Like his best friend, Rachel, he was too young to go to Hogwarts but had come to see Harry off with his parents.

"So Harry, make sure you have loads of fun yeah?" Sirius grinned, releasing Harry to take a good look at him. "And if you're not in Gryffindor we'll disown you." He winked.

"Sirius!" Hermione shrieked, as she hit him upside the head.

"Joking, joking." Sirius muttered, rubbing his head. "But if you're in Slytherin I might have heart failure."

"Pick Slytherin!" Lily stage whispered to her son. Harry chuckled as Sirius feigned hurt.

"Hey look, there are the Weasley's. If you're quick, you can find a seat with Ron." Hermione told Harry, with a secret smile to herself. Sirius noticed and squeezed her hand gently.

"Can't we go to?" Rachel whined, pointing at herself and Regulus.

"Not yet sweetheart." Lily said softly. "You still have a couple of years yet the pair of you."

"Right, you best get going Prongslet." Sirius said, checking the time. James loaded Harry's trunk onto the train in Ron's compartment.

"Oh there you are!" Called a flustered Mrs Weasley. James and Harry spun around to greet her.

"Hey Molly." James grinned.

"Hi Mrs Weasley." Harry called at the same time.

"Ron's already on the train." She told Harry, then gave him a quick hug and turned around to look for Ginny. The twins were nowhere in sight and Percy had already gone to the prefect carriage.

"Have a great term." Lily told Harry, hugging him tightly. "Write to us as much as you like."

"Yes Mum." Harry smiled warmly at her, then turned to his dad.

"Have fun son. Remember, there are loads of secret passages, I want to know when you find each one."

"James!" Lily groaned. James and Sirius exchanged a high five to the amusement of all the children.

"Don't worry."

"We can take care of him." Fred and George Weasley had appeared at their shoulder with identical, evil grins.

"I'd sooner trust the giant squid." Hermione commented drily. The twins put their hands on their hearts.

"You wound us Aunt 'Mione." They groaned. Just then the whistle blew.

"Bye Harry." Ginny said shyly, as she and Mrs Weasley re-appeared to wave goodbye to Ron.

"Bye Ginny." Harry replied, smiling at her.

"You'd best go." Hermione said, hugging Harry quickly. The twins each gave Sirius and James a fist bump, kissed Lily and Hermione on the cheek and went to find Lee Jordan. Harry gave his mother a fleeting kiss, hugged his sister and Regulus then ran off to find Ron. Once both boys were in their compartment, they hung out the window to wave goodbye.

As Hermione turned she saw a glimpse of the back of a girl with bushy brown hair, clambering into the next carriage along. Her breath caught in her throat as she turned slightly and immediately spotted her parents. They were holding hands and waving at the younger version of herself, exactly as she remembered. She hoped Harry and Ron would end up being friends with her, without needing a mountain troll to help things along.

"'Mione Harry is waving at you." Sirius said, then he saw what had caught his wife's attention. He wrapped an arm around her waist kissing her temple, much to the disgust of their nine year old son.

Hermione leaned into his side and forced herself to drag her attention back to Harry just as the train began pulling away. She began waving like mad at him and Ron, clutching her son's hand.

"My little Hare Bear is all grown up." Lily sighed.

"Time flies doesn't it?" Hermione smiled. They all watched the train disappear around the corner. Hermione smiled to herself.


End file.
